compare

American  

[kuhm-pair] / kəmˈpɛər /

verb (used with object)

• compares,
  present (3rd person singular)
• compared,
  past participle,  past
• comparing
  present participle

1. to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences.

   If you compare these three pieces of cloth, you'll see they're all similar in weight.

   It's difficult to directly compare the governments of two very different nations.

2. to consider or describe as similar; liken.

   “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”

3. Grammar. to form or display the degrees of comparison of (an adjective or adverb).

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verb (used without object)

• compares,
  present (3rd person singular)
• compared,
  past participle,  past
• comparing
  present participle

1. to be worthy of comparison; be held equal.

   Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's.

2. to appear in a similar standing.

   His recital certainly compares with the one he gave last year.

3. to differ in quality or accomplishment as specified.

   Their development compares poorly with that of neighbor nations.

4. to vie; rival.

   Can we all agree that most people want fair treatment and to compare favorably with others?

5. to make a comparison.

   The only way we can say which product is better is to compare.

noun

1. comparison.

   Her beauty is beyond compare.

idioms

1. compare apples to / with / and apples, to compare things that are similar to each other in a basic or fundamental way.

   Let’s compare apples to apples and look at the Professional package versus the Plus package.

2. compare apples and / with / to oranges, to compare things that are fundamentally different from each other, usually used to suggest that the things cannot or should not be directly compared.

   Comparing per pupil costs in public schools to tuition costs in private schools is comparing apples and oranges.

3. compared to / with, considered in relation to; contrasted with.

   The report investigated whether electric buses were cost-effective compared to traditional diesel buses.

   Compared with other video editing software, our program offers many more features.

4. compare and contrast. see compare and contrast.

5. compare notes. note.

compare British  

/ kəmˈpɛə /

verb

1. to regard or represent as analogous or similar; liken

   the general has been compared to Napoleon

2. to examine in order to observe resemblances or differences

   to compare rum with gin

3. to be of the same or similar quality or value

   gin compares with rum in alcoholic content

4. (intr) to bear a specified relation of quality or value when examined

   this car compares badly with the other

5. to correspond to

   profits were £3.2 million. This compares with £2.6 million last year

6. (tr) grammar to give the positive, comparative, and superlative forms of (an adjective)

7. archaic (intr) to compete or vie

8. to exchange opinions

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noun

1. comparison or analogy (esp in the phrase beyond compare )

compare More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing compare

• beyond compare

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Usage

The traditional rule about which preposition to use after compare states that compare should be followed by to when it points out likenesses or similarities between two apparently dissimilar persons or things: She compared his handwriting to knotted string. Compare should be followed by with, the rule says, when it points out similarities or differences between two entities of the same general class: The critic compared the paintings in the exhibit with magazine photographs. This rule is by no means always observed, however, even in formal speech and writing. The usual practice is to employ to for likenesses between members of different classes: A language may be compared to a living organism. But when the comparison is between members of the same category, both to and with are used: The article compares the Chicago of today with (or to ) the Chicago of the 1890s. Following the past participle compared, either to or with is used regardless of whether differences or similarities are stressed or whether the things compared belong to the same or different classes: Compared with (or to ) the streets of 18th-century London, New York's streets are models of cleanliness and order.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• comparer
  noun
• intercompare
  verb (used with object)
• precompare
  verb (used with object)
• recompare
  verb (used with object)
• uncompared
  adjective
• well-compared
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• comparing
  present
• compared
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• compare
  simple
• compares
  simple
• have compared
  perfect
• has compared
  perfect
• am comparing
  progressive
• are comparing
  progressive
• is comparing
  progressive
• have been comparing
  perfect progressive
• has been comparing
  perfect progressive

Past

• compared
  simple
• had compared
  perfect
• was comparing
  progressive
• were comparing
  progressive
• had been comparing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will compare
  simple
• will have compared
  perfect
• will be comparing
  progressive
• will have been comparing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of compare

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English comparen, from Latin comparāre “to place together, match,” verb derivative of compar “alike, matching” ( see com-, par ¹); replacing Middle English comperen, from Old French comperer, from Latin

Explanation

To compare is to look at two things and see how they are similar and different. People compare all the time. If you look at two products and compare prices, you're looking for the better bargain. It is hard to compare who was the better athlete, Michael Jordan or Billie Jean King, because they played different sports. At a museum, you can compare different paintings. If you like your math teacher better than your history teacher, you're comparing the two. If a TV shows is bad, you could say "it doesn't compare" to your favorite show.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

compare compares compared comparing

“When I looked at reclassified students from one district to another, I couldn’t compare apples to apples,” said Manuel Buenrostro, policy director at Californians Together, an advocacy group that co-sponsored the bill.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

A Janus Henderson spokesperson says its presentation of performance conforms with Securities and Exchange Commission rules that require all funds to compare their performance to a “broad-based index.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

They generally have large troves of AI-generated text alongside content written by humans -- and compare the two.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

"I know it's not a title fight but it's two former heavyweight champions. It's a fair price when you compare it to other major sporting events such as the football World Cup," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

I remember a remark Farmer made to me a year ago in these hills: “You should compare suffering. Which suffering is worse. It’s called triage.”

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

That compares with the roughly 7.5% rate on new 30-year fixed mortgages, according to Mortgage News Daily.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

That compares to a $6.2m pre-tax profit in the previous year.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

The put-call ratio is a sentiment indicator, as it compares the volume of puts traded with the volume of calls.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

The up to US$385 million sale compares to MA’s valuation of US$631 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Bando stands over the sun compass squinting, scratching his head, and finally grinning as he compares it with his own compass.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Joining a family office can come with risks for investment staff compared to working at an institutional investment firm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

“Neurodegenerative mortality was nearly four times higher in NFL players compared with the general population and remained threefold higher after accounting for competing risks,” they reported in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

In the exhibit pamphlet, RM notes that Hyong-keun’s paintings are often compared to Rothko’s, but “their darkness is not the same.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

The latest published data in Wales shows there were more than 27,000 reported consultations in the Common Ailments Service, external for the condition last year, compared to 4,810 two years earlier.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

“I thought Nate’s Gertrude boat and Jonah’s motorcycle were a little over the top, but theirs are nothing compared to some of these.”

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

By comparing turbidite layers associated with the Cascadia and San Andreas fault systems, the researchers found striking similarities in their timing and structure.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

When his phone screen cracked, he spent a week on Amazon comparing six or seven replacements and adding them to his basket.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

With a vibrant social scene and plenty of recreation, it provides a realistic baseline for comparing the financial advantages of living and working abroad.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Indeed, comparing the daily changes in the S&P 500 and the 10-year Treasury shows the correlation is now the most negative over a 200-day period since 1997.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

To deconvolute the effects of heredity and environment, Siemens suggested comparing fraternal twins to identical twins.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• analyze
• contrast
• correlate
• equal
• match
• measure
• study