compare
Americanverb (used with object)
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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.
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to consider or describe as similar; liken.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”
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Grammar. to form or display the degrees of comparison of (an adjective or adverb).
verb (used without object)
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to be worthy of comparison; be held equal.
Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's.
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to appear in a similar standing.
His recital certainly compares with the one he gave last year.
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to differ in quality or accomplishment as specified.
Their development compares poorly with that of neighbor nations.
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Can we all agree that most people want fair treatment and to compare favorably with others?
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to make a comparison.
The only way we can say which product is better is to compare.
noun
idioms
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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.
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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.
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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.
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compare and contrast. see compare and contrast.
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compare notes. note.
verb
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to regard or represent as analogous or similar; liken
the general has been compared to Napoleon
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to examine in order to observe resemblances or differences
to compare rum with gin
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to be of the same or similar quality or value
gin compares with rum in alcoholic content
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(intr) to bear a specified relation of quality or value when examined
this car compares badly with the other
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to correspond to
profits were £3.2 million. This compares with £2.6 million last year
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(tr) grammar to give the positive, comparative, and superlative forms of (an adjective)
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archaic (intr) to compete or vie
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to exchange opinions
noun
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
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comparernoun
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intercompareverb (used with object)
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precompareverb (used with object)
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recompareverb (used with object)
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uncomparedadjective
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well-comparedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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comparesimple
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comparessimple
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have comparedperfect
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has comparedperfect
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am comparingprogressive
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are comparingprogressive
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is comparingprogressive
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have been comparingperfect progressive
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has been comparingperfect progressive
Past
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comparedsimple
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had comparedperfect
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was comparingprogressive
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were comparingprogressive
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had been comparingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing compare
The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 1
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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:
The samples provided the first direct opportunity to compare how solar wind particles were implanted into soil from both sides of the Moon.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
Novo Nordisk is suing Eli Lilly, saying the American drug manufacturer runs deceptive ads that unfairly compare the companies’ GLP-1 medications.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
"The worst mistake would be to compare him to Messi and Maradona," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The FBI technology specialist told ProPublica that the bureau has technology to compare images and that if it starts with a large enough dataset, then a signature-matching analysis could be “somewhat accurate.”
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
You can talk about it afterward, compare notes.
From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall
This compares with the $11.37 billion analysts had expected, according to a company-compiled consensus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
This compares with just 3% in France, which generated the majority of its electricity - 69% - from nuclear power.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
He compares Aemond with Spider-Man, an oddly aligned character.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Digit ratio compares the length of the index finger, known as 2D, with the length of the ring finger, known as 4D.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
The story behind the book was that she saw a movie that talked about one poem that compares this woman’s hands to flowers and rain.
From "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
Net profit was down 36% compared with the prior quarter, which the bank attributed to restructuring charges arising from recent deals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
He compared trying to find a path between bins and cars as being "like a pinball machine".
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Researchers compared the newly obtained genomes with previously published ancient DNA from populations across China.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Disneyland is tiny compared with the U.S. capital markets, and that goes into the degenerate economy.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
The books at Buschke’s were slapdashedly scattered, but the disarray was nothing compared to the confusion of Bókin.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
This means the method is most useful for comparing the dinosaurs with one another rather than producing an exact measurement for each individual animal.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
To address this, the BEA is switching to a more complicated method that involves comparing financial firms’ income with the amount of work performed in the industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Initially, the prototype could follow simple voice commands to execute tasks across apps, including ordering food and comparing shopping prices.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
He added there is a "clear difference" when comparing his language to comments he had criticised from other parties.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
A better way would be to place a ruler gently next to the pencil, but in fact, comparing the lengths of the two objects also changes the pencil’s speed a tiny bit.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
