consult
Americanverb (used with object)
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consults,
present (3rd person singular)
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consulted,
past participle, past
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consulting
present participle
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to seek advice or information from; ask guidance from.
Consult your lawyer before signing the contract.
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to refer to for information.
Consult your dictionary for the spelling of the word.
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to have regard for (a person's interest, convenience, etc.) in making plans.
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Obsolete. to meditate, plan, or contrive.
verb (used without object)
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consults,
present (3rd person singular)
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consulted,
past participle, past
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consulting
present participle
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to consider or deliberate; take counsel; confer (usually followed bywith ).
He consulted with his doctor.
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to give professional or expert advice; serve as consultant.
noun
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a consultation.
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Archaic. a secret meeting, especially one for seditious purposes.
verb
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to ask advice from (someone); confer with (someone)
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(tr) to refer to for information
to consult a map
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(tr) to have regard for (a person's feelings, interests, etc) in making decisions or plans; consider
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(intr) to make oneself available to give professional advice, esp at scheduled times and for a fee
Synonym Usage
Consult, confer imply talking over a situation or a subject with someone to decide points in doubt. To consult is to seek from a presumably qualified person or source advice, opinion, etc.: to consult an authority. To confer is to exchange views: The partners conferred concerning their business.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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consultsimple
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consultssimple
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have consultedperfect
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has consultedperfect
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am consultingprogressive
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are consultingprogressive
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is consultingprogressive
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have been consultingperfect progressive
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has been consultingperfect progressive
Past
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consultedsimple
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had consultedperfect
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was consultingprogressive
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were consultingprogressive
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had been consultingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of consult
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French consulter, from Latin consultāre “to deliberate,” literally, “to advise repeatedly,” from consulere “to advise, consider, seek advice from”; cf. consul
Explanation
To consult is to give or get help or advice. When you don't know the meaning of a word, you consult a dictionary. That's why you're here, right? People making a big decision will usually consult their family and friends. To consult can also mean a type of professional advice: a consultant is a freelance worker paid to help a business out with something. Consulting is a complicated word that can mean to give or receive advice. When in doubt, find someone you trust to consult.
Vocabulary lists containing consult
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 1–6
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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:
A Department for Education spokesperson said the government was developing new screen-time guidance for children aged five to 18, and will consult on the safety of artificial intelligence and educational technology in schools.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
"It's important that allies continue to consult, think about how we might respond, and make sure that we message clearly and concisely to the Russians where our red lines are," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
“They’re counting on the country to have done the right things to keep the airspace safe,” he said, adding that passengers should consult their governments’ travel advice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Before the torch is lit in Los Angeles in 2028, make sure to consult Slate’s list of every Olympic event, ranked from worst to best, compiled by Mike Canter.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
The king replanted the seed and called the best gardeners of his land to consult.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
Asked about the meeting, a State Department spokesperson said the agency regularly consults with a range of outside voices, and that officials’ engagement with a person or group doesn’t constitute an endorsement of views.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Arne Olson, a senior partner with Energy and Environmental Economics who consults on California’s energy planning, said replacing the plant with clean energy may have looked “eminently doable in 2016,” and is probably feasible today.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
The 67-year-old breast cancer survivor, who consults on sustainable textiles and runs a small farmers market, would never have her own property sprayed with pesticides, but admits to having envied neighbors who did.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
“It’s a closed ecosystem,” said Kenneth Civello, a cardiologist in Baton Rouge, La., who consults for several wearables companies.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
“Are you all right . . .” He consults his notes.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
He spent some evenings going over it, then consulted Japanese patent engineer Satoshi Tomokiyo, who maintains an online list of unsolved ciphers, to verify it.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The couple assumed Ortiz Jara’s path to legal status would be simple, given his U.S. citizen children and wife, but most lawyers they consulted said his deportation years ago created a nearly insurmountable hurdle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
He also consulted with wineries around the country and the world—Spain, Italy, even China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Statisticians I have consulted insist that it’s almost certainly a coincidence that those three particularly terrible months for the market happened to occur in October.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
She looked down at the menu on her plate, and consulted it without picking it up.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
I liked asking people what brought them in, hearing about their celebrations and making small talk while consulting my restaurant map and section list.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
He later moved to California to join the Los Angeles Actors’ Theatre, which became the Los Angeles Theatre Center, where he served as a consulting director and actor, and helped develop the poetry/literary series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
The elite consulting firm is rolling out a new avatar that plays the part of a client in some entry-level consulting interviews.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
The elite consulting firm is changing its interview process for some entry-level consulting candidates this fall, adding a new type of client simulation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Stanton argued that his response proved her point, demonstrating that men had “run this government for one hundred years without consulting the women of the United States.”
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
