become
Americanverb (used without object)
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becomes,
present (3rd person singular)
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became,
past
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become,
past participle
-
becoming
present participle
-
to come, change, or grow to be (as specified).
He became tired.
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to come into being.
verb (used with object)
-
becomes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
became,
past
-
become,
past participle
-
becoming
present participle
-
to be attractive on; befit in appearance; look well on.
That gown becomes you.
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to be suitable or necessary to the dignity, situation, or responsibility of.
conduct that becomes an officer.
idioms
verb
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(copula) to come to be; develop or grow into
he became a monster
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(foll by of; usually used in a question) to fall to or be the lot (of); happen (to)
what became of him?
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(tr) (of clothes, etc) to enhance the appearance of (someone); suit
that dress becomes you
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(tr) to be appropriate; befit
it ill becomes you to complain
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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becomesimple
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becomessimple
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have becomeperfect
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has becomeperfect
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am becomingprogressive
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are becomingprogressive
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is becomingprogressive
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have been becomingperfect progressive
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has been becomingperfect progressive
Past
-
becamesimple
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had becomeperfect
-
was becomingprogressive
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were becomingprogressive
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had been becomingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of become
First recorded before 900; Middle English becumen, Old English becuman “to come about, happen”; cognate with Dutch bekomen, German bekommen, Gothic biqiman. See be-, come
Explanation
To become is to evolve, change into, or emerge as something. A fertilized egg will hatch and the tiny chick will become a full-grown chicken. When you become angrier and angrier watching the TV news, you begin to feel a certain way. Likewise, when Pinocchio the wooden puppet becomes a real boy in the fairy tale, he changes from toy to human. The word become can also mean "learn how to be" or "be qualified for," as when you dream that some day you'll become an astronaut. The Old English becuman has these meanings, and also "meet with" or "arrive."
Vocabulary lists containing become
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:
Senate seats in South Carolina become open with the approximate frequency of a total solar eclipse.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
Ever since the ceasefire collapsed on July 8, two-thirds of transits have become "dark", or unknown, compared with less than one percent before the war, according to Kpler.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
A weaker dollar and concerns around U.S. debt could also support gold demand, as the precious metal’s prices become less dependent on any single catalyst, the analyst says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Within the next few days, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their two children will have departed California and become residents of the UK.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
In time, the pinpointing of control areas will become more and more detailed.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Feliciano, one minute later: “The impossible becomes possible when somebody does it. So let’s do it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Once markets believe Treasury is defending a price, every rise in yields becomes a test of official resolve, and the operations must grow to survive the tests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
“The larger buybacks remain small relative to the Treasury market and are officially intended to support liquidity, but traders now know Washington is prepared to respond when the long end becomes sufficiently uncomfortable.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
That we see the group start scared for their lives, and then watch as they embrace their place in the infinite agony to the point that it becomes comical, is remarkable.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
“When a body is left alone after death, in a state of desecration, the soul becomes corrupted,” he said, as though I hadn’t even spoken.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Ana became Wright’s mentor and he became Lee Strasberg’s secretary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
In some, I couldn't hear the coroner through the noise of a busy train line, or because of poor acoustics in a vast room; in others, rooms became so hot that regular breaks were required.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
New York, Venice, Maine: For people like the writer and his friends, the world became both more expansive and more intimate through the personal and artistic lines—poetic and painterly—that brought them together.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Slate’s Steffi Cao set out to uncover just how the chain became such a phenomenon—and what its rise reveals about consumer desire, brand loyalty, and the future of American fast food.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
At one point it became so bad that the team stopped and looked back at me in surprise.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Communication is one of them: Data on what people are writing and how they are working are becoming extremely valuable to companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
"It is a worrying situation if that's becoming more prevalent because it is incredibly dangerous", he added.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
This strategy “is becoming increasingly critical and one that we believe will shine as we move further through today’s robust AI infrastructure buildout,” Muse said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
"That makes it very promising for the new telescopes becoming available, including the Roman Space Telescope, which can see an area 100-times larger than that of the Hubble."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
The thought of becoming Eliza’s property did not sit well with Ona.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
