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

Sawitskas’ day job is at Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative arm of the company responsible for theme park design.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

It wasn’t always like this, said Rhonda Crawford, the senior vice president of customer experience design and strategy at American Airlines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

The look of the new 2CV may well evolve as Citroen develops its design.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Employees still prepared the meals, but the design dramatically reduced the need for face-to-face interaction.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

The investigation discovered that the basic design of the spacecraft was sound, but there had been mistakes in design and in testing procedures.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

This balance could be valuable for future reactor designs.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

The polymer filament is sold in spools that feed into 3-D printers, allowing the devices to form designs created by their owners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

In this role, she commissions photojournalists nationwide and designs illustrations for complex financial stories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Taiwan is home to hardware production giants TSMC, which turns Nvidia's cutting-edge designs into silicon components, and Foxconn, which assembles the processors to make data centre servers.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

They came in a dazzling variety of designs and sizes and colors.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

The postal service says the voice-over was “not designed to replicate any specific individual.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Rather than consisting of just one residence, the property was designed as a full-scale compound.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

CBL-514 is designed to target adipocytes, the body's fat-storing cells, while leaving other types of cells unaffected.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

BMW's Minis have always carried styling designed to hark back to the very British original.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 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

This shifts attention toward "designing the environment in which molecules actually react."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

For much of the past year, Meta has been embroiled in a series of legal actions, accused of deliberately designing products that are addictive to young users.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Last year, the chemistry prize went to Japan's Susumu Kitagawa, UK-born Richard Robson and American-Jordanian Omar Yaghi for developing a method of designing molecular structures.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

Michelle Min began designing her own clothing and accessories, “and eventually the entire inventory became her stuff, and that’s where it all started.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

I dreamed of being an architect, designing the most beautiful bridges in the world.

From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang

Related Words

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