Synonyms

connect

American

[kuh-nekt] / kəˈnɛkt /

verb (used with object)

to join, link, or fasten together; unite or bind.

to connect the two cities by a bridge; Communication satellites connect the local stations into a network.

Antonyms:

sunder, divide
to establish communication between; put in communication.

Operator, will you please connect me with Mr. Jones?
to have as an accompanying or associated feature.

pleasures connected with music.
to cause to be associated, as in a personal or business relationship.

to connect oneself with a group of like-minded persons; Our bank is connected with major foreign banks.

Antonyms:

dissociate
to associate mentally or emotionally.

She connects all telegrams with bad news.
to link to an electrical or communications system; hook up.

to connect a telephone.

verb (used without object)

to become connected; join or unite.

These two parts connect at the sides.
(of trains, buses, etc.) to run so as to make connections (often followed bywith ).

This bus connects with a northbound bus.
Informal. to have or establish successful communication; make contact.

I connected with two new clients today.
Informal. to relate to or be in harmony with another person, one's work, etc..

We knew each other well but never connected.
Slang. (of a drug dealer or user) to make direct contact for the illegal sale or purchase of drugs, as narcotics.
Sports. to hit successfully or solidly.

The batter connected for a home run. The boxer connected with a right.

adjective

of or relating to a connection or connections.

connect charges for a new cable television channel.

connect British

/ kəˈnɛkt /

verb

to link or be linked together; join; fasten
(tr) to relate or associate

I connect him with my childhood
(tr) to establish telephone communications with or between
(intr) to be meaningful or meaningfully related
(intr) (of two public vehicles, such as trains or buses) to have the arrival of one timed to occur just before the departure of the other, for the convenient transfer of passengers
informal (intr) to hit, punch, kick, etc, solidly
informal (intr) to be successful
slang (intr) to find a source of drugs, esp illegal drugs

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What are other ways to say connect?

To connect is to link or fasten together, as two cities by a bridge. How is connect different from join and unite? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of connect

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin connectere, equivalent to con- “with, together” + nectere “to tie”; see con-, nexus

Explanation

Connect means to join together. When a puzzle piece fits into another, they connect. You might fly to Chicago and then connect to a flight to LA. When you meet someone and feel comfortable with them right away, you connect. The uses of connect continue. A receptionist connects you to the person you want to speak to on the phone. When you are assembling something, you are often told to connect tab A to slot B. When you punch someone, your fist connects with their face. You might not connect a movie with a historical event until your teacher points it out.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing connect

The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 3

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

com-, con-

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!

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:

connect connects connected connecting

Now, podcasts give long-form - and less combative - opportunities to connect with voters, while social media gives a quick hit of direct democratic dopamine.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

They can also connect people with programs and other resources that can make it easier to begin healthy changes and maintain them over time.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

I’ve seen in some other interviews you say that even when you were shooting it, you weren’t totally sure, didn’t totally think that it would connect with people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

"I need to connect my life with engineering and after maybe help my own country," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

I’d managed to connect with a group of professional women and form a kind of chatty, hands-on social cluster.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

The experiment connects two areas of physics that normally describe very different scales.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

It is a bridge that connects K-pop and K-culture with a global audience, especially with the fans in L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Its marketplace model connects hosts and guests online or through mobile devices to book spaces.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

One connects separate server racks across a data center, known as “scale out.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

“The rapchuck. You know, the old-fashioned thingie where the roofline connects with the abbersnatch.”

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

Alarmingly, there are also astonishingly few people who seem to understand math, or how all these things are connected.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

Their modeling identified an area in the left frontal lobe as a likely starting point from which synaptic loss could spread into connected regions.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

"She's connected cultures, she's crossed borders, she's reminded audiences everywhere that while we may come from different backgrounds, her music unites in a way that few other things can," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

For younger family members growing up far away, a family reunion or seeing a Lodge pan at a restaurant might be the first time they feel connected to the company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

My arm is no longer physically connected to me, but my brain is still able to control and monitor its movement.

From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga

From Leigh Ramsey at Bluefield Research I learned about Texas outright prohibiting utilities from connecting to the internet, and establishing a “Cyber Command” to identify weaknesses and coordinate responses.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

The researchers now want to determine whether the technique can move beyond connecting just two DNA fragments at a time.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

She had missed her connecting flight to Ibiza and was stuck in Madrid.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Smith has even avoided taking connecting flights through American cities to other destinations.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Energy tingled up my skin, connecting me through the reins to the power of the four lamassus, as if we were all part of a single circuit.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023