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.

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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

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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.

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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

Well, Tommy can do her hair but, by design, can never replace Mickey, and that conflict between Valerie and Tommy underlines her loss and her denial of Mickey’s passing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

In that case, you will likely find yourself traveling to or from the concourse on a wretched holdover of mid-century transportation design: the people mover.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

Company executives say they design their chips using a distinctive design approach called “cluster-scale memory,” a way of allowing multiple chips inside a server to communicate more quickly and thus act as one processor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Ferrari's chief design officer Flavio Manzoni said in an interview in May that critics are part of the innovation process and that he believed people would come to appreciate the Luce.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

“Hey, I have an idea. Maybe you can design the antidote.”

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Lasers produced with the new platform, for example, show more than a 100-fold improvement over previous designs in how long their light remains coherent.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

Kim said he would like the boats to reflect the surrounding community, similar to how Echo Park’s swan boats and Hansen Dam’s duck boats have their own unique designs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Outside of acting, she designs jewelry under her brand, GreybyTamaraMello, creating pieces made exclusively from reclaimed metals.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Rather than make chips itself, Arm provided its architecture and processor designs to companies including Apple, Qualcomm, Amazon and Nvidia, allowing them to build competing chips on a common technological foundation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

The older women laughed at some of my designs, but their laughter was kind.

From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan

The Pink House, as Lynch referred to it, was designed by Lloyd Wright Jr. for writer Beverly Johnson in 1963.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Some of the most popular new technologies were designed to take over the least desirable jobs in warehouses, tasks that require physical labor like loading and unloading trucks or picking merchandise for online orders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Poudel said AI and other emerging technologies are expected to depend increasingly on neuromorphic computing, which is designed to operate more like the human brain.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

At the head of the coffin was an engraving of a cross that she wore, which was designed by jeweller Spencer Morgan.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Thus designed, Morgan Stanley’s new bespoke credit default swap was virtually certain one day to pay off.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

When Etched needed help designing servers and racks to integrate its chips into one big system, the company in 2024 recruited Brian Loiler, a top systems engineer who spent nearly 23 years at Nvidia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

“If I can foresee this, then I think an engineer who’s designing the product can foresee it too.”

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

"Understanding how they influence electrical behavior gives scientists another tool for designing future technologies using the structure of a material itself."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

London-based nail artist Jess Young believes designing your nails can be an added way to help people feel "comfortable and confident" in themselves.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Today, designing and building a new airplane can take decades; back then, it took weeks.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

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