design

American  

[dih-zahyn] / dɪˈzaɪn /

verb (used with object)

• designs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• designed,
  past participle,  past
• designing
  present participle

1. to prepare the preliminary sketch or the plans for (a work to be executed), especially to plan the form and structure of.

   to design a new bridge.

2. to plan and fashion artistically or skillfully.

3. to intend for a definite purpose.

   a scholarship designed for foreign students.

4. to form or conceive in the mind; contrive; plan.

   The prisoner designed an intricate escape.

5. to assign in thought or intention; purpose.

   He designed to be a doctor.

6. Obsolete. to mark out, as by a sign; indicate.

---

verb (used without object)

• designs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• designed,
  past participle,  past
• designing
  present participle

1. to make drawings, preliminary sketches, or plans.

2. to plan and fashion the form and structure of an object, work of art, decorative scheme, etc.

noun

• designs
  plural

1. an outline, sketch, or plan, as of the form and structure of a work of art, an edifice, or a machine to be executed or constructed.

2. organization or structure of formal elements in a work of art; composition.

3. the combination of details or features of a picture, building, etc.; the pattern or motif of artistic work.

   the design on a bracelet.

4. the art of designing.

   a school of design.

5. a plan or project.

   a design for a new process.

6. a plot or intrigue, especially an underhand, deceitful, or treacherous one.

   His political rivals formulated a design to unseat him.

7. designs, a hostile or aggressive project or scheme having evil or selfish motives.

   He had designs on his partner's stock.

8. intention; purpose; end.

9. adaptation of means to a preconceived end.

design British  

/ dɪˈzaɪn /

verb

1. to work out the structure or form of (something), as by making a sketch, outline, pattern, or plans

2. to plan and make (something) artistically or skilfully

3. (tr) to form or conceive in the mind; invent

4. (tr) to intend, as for a specific purpose; plan

5. obsolete (tr) to mark out or designate

---

noun

1. a plan, sketch, or preliminary drawing

2. the arrangement or pattern of elements or features of an artistic or decorative work

   the design of the desk is Chippendale

3. a finished artistic or decorative creation

4. the art of designing

5. a plan, scheme, or project

6. an end aimed at or planned for; intention; purpose

7. (often plural; often foll by on or against) a plot or hostile scheme, often to gain possession of (something) by illegitimate means

8. a coherent or purposeful pattern, as opposed to chaos

   God's design appears in nature

9. philosophy another name for teleological argument

design Idioms  

1. see by design; have designs on.

---

Usage

What is a basic definition of design? Design means to create a plan or sketch of something that is going to be made later, especially a plan that details what the finished thing will do and look like. A design is the plan or sketch created as a result of this activity. Design also means to intend something for a specific purpose. Design has several other senses as a verb and a noun. Design means to sketch something out and draw up a plan of how the finished project will look and function. For example, the government will have a team design a new bridge before actually building it. This means that someone will draw a sketch of what they want the bridge to look like and determine how much weight they want the bridge to hold. The people who actually build the bridge will consult this plan to guide them in the construction. A person who makes these preliminary sketches is called a designer. Real-life examples: Architects design new buildings. Mattel and Hasbro design new toys. Microsoft and Apple frequently design new computers and gadgets. Used in a sentence: The engineer designed a new type of airplane wing. A design is the actual sketch or drawing that a person who is designing something creates. On the internet, you can find some early and original designs of many popular products we use today. Often, these early designs are quite different from the final product. Used in a sentence: The scientists were working on a design for a new type of spacecraft. Design also means to intend something for a specific purpose. Real-life examples: Hats are designed to be worn on the head. A lawnmower is designed to cut grass. Cars are not designed for driving underwater. Used in a sentence: The ad campaign was designed to attract more teenage fans. 

Synonym Usage

See intend. See plan.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-design
  noun
• overdesign
  verb
• redesign
  verb
• outdesign
  verb (used with object)
• predesign
  verb (used with object)
• underdesign
  verb (used with object)
• designable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• designs
  plural

Participles

• designing
  present
• designed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• design
  simple
• designs
  simple
• have designed
  perfect
• has designed
  perfect
• am designing
  progressive
• are designing
  progressive
• is designing
  progressive
• have been designing
  perfect progressive
• has been designing
  perfect progressive

Past

• designed
  simple
• had designed
  perfect
• was designing
  progressive
• were designing
  progressive
• had been designing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will design
  simple
• will have designed
  perfect
• will be designing
  progressive
• will have been designing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of design

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English designen, from Latin dēsignāre “to mark out”; see de-, sign

Explanation

To design is to conceive, create, sketch out, or invent something. An architect might design a new apartment building, and an inventor might design a new smart phone. Charles Eames, famous designer of fancy modern chairs, said "Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose." That's a broad definition, but then again, design is a broad field. School kids design book report posters, engineers design bridges, and politicians design arguments against their opponents. If you really want to explore design, take some time to examine the expert layout of a Picasso painting.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

design designs designed designing

You can see their devotion in outdoor backdrops that are deliriously false, in sight gags that reference Cronenberg and Carpenter or in production design that includes the perfect nostalgic ’90s video store carpet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

"The significance extends far beyond phages – it suggests that genome language models are beginning to learn the design principles encoded by evolution, opening the door to AI-assisted genome writing."

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Tencent, China’s largest videogame developer and publisher, has a 3-D generative model of its own, Hunyuan 3-D, which it sells to game and design companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

For this part of the research, they used a case crossover design based on daily pollutant concentrations before each appointment.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

He’d be trained to fly a new kind of airplane, a top-secret design.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

The firm designs, manufactures, launches, and operates products and services built on cutting-edge technologies, including the rockets and spacecraft.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

Bouquin's designs were influential during the 1960s and are sometimes described as "hippie deluxe".

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Nvidia designs chips needed to run models and makes AI tools.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Plans for the renovation were first announced in 2018 and initial designs suggested removing nearly 200 seats to provide more hospitality.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

We expect great things from men who have made such a noble stand against the designs of their fellow-men to enslave them.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

His order was designed “to preserve Tegna as a separate and distinct, independently managed business unit from Nexstar,” Nunley wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

His decision to plead the Fifth, according to people familiar with his legal strategy, was designed in part to avoid what his legal team believed was a perjury trap.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Senior valuer Jenny Low said: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own an item of clothing designed for and worn by screen icon Brigitte Bardot."

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

The new AI system was designed to search for the same types of flares across the entire sky, including locations far from galactic centers.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

The Louvre, he concluded, with an insult designed to puncture French pride, “is less well protected than a Spanish museum.”

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

That has pushed Lumilens to focus as much on manufacturing its products as on designing the chips inside them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

But that is relatively simple compared with designing a new viable virus from scratch.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Holden said providers were "very quick" to claim their tools are safe and reduce bias, while designing and marketing them in ways that encourage employers to reject large numbers of applicants based on AI-generated scores.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

"Ductile intermetallics will significantly boost our capabilities for designing advanced materials for aerospace and outer space, energy and defense applications," Zhang said.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

I may have no interest in designing clothes but I do love the ones Cinna makes for me.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

Related Words

• architecture
• arrangement
• composition
• construction
• drawing
• form
• idea
• layout
• map
• method
• model
• pattern
• picture
• plan
• scheme
• study