analyse
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to examine in detail in order to discover meaning, essential features, etc
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to break down into components or essential features
to analyse a financial structure
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to make a mathematical, chemical, grammatical, etc, analysis of
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another word for psychoanalyse
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of analyse
C17: back formation from analysis
Explanation
To analyse (analyze is U.S. English) something is to consider it in detail so you can figure out its workings or meaning. Analyse comes from Greek roots meaning "loosen." If you analyse something, it's as if you're untying it and letting the different parts separate so that you can study them. If you've got some mystery substance, you can analyse it by performing chemical reactions to break it into its parts. If you analyse a poem, you look at it word-by-word and even sound-by-sound. But remember that analyse is a British spelling, with analyze as the American version.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His staff logically analyse every match in detail and learn what the adjustments are.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
"The DA will use the win as part of their campaign but if you analyse it, they won with eight votes. It was a very tight contest," he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
In this piece, we analyse the reasons why England looked less defensively secure in their World Cup opener compared with previous games under Thomas Tuchel.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Jon argues the issue is being taken far more seriously elsewhere, particularly in the US, where dedicated Pentagon units now analyse reported UAP encounters.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Tycho had the greatest body of accurate astronomical data yet assembled, but was tired and in need of help to analyse the material.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
"This Nvidia employee was identified as a person involved in the case after investigators analysed the relevant evidence following the previous round of searches targeting Super Micro," the source told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Researchers at Imperial analysed NHS data from the English National Diabetes Audit, external to study trends over time.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Then they analysed the next 100 videos suggested by YouTube's Up Next algorithm.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Since 2020, South Korea has led growth in real average wealth per adult across the 56 analysed markets, with gains above 50 percent.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
He would thus have been familiar with the basic principle that objects appear smaller as they recede into the distance, a principle analysed by Euclid, and familiar in the Middle Ages.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
After analysing a plastic recover facility in Manchester with a processing capacity of 35,000 tonnes of plastic a year, for six months, the company found that BuzzBallz contaminated recycled plastic 66% of the time.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
BBC Verify has been analysing video footage of the blasts, which shows the explosions happened approximately 125m from the Four Seasons hotel, on the pavement of Shoukry al-Quowatly, a major thoroughfare running through the capital.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
We estimated this by analysing whole-genome DNA to reconstruct when populations split and how much they exchanged genes in the past.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026
Investigators "seized electronic data from the commission's servers and is now analysing the material obtained", he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
"Science has succeeded in so far analysing man that we know already that choice and what is called freedom of will is nothing else than——" Stay, gentlemen, I meant to begin with that myself.
From White Nights and Other Stories The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Volume X by Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
