establish
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to found, institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis.
to establish a university; to establish a medical practice.
- Antonyms:
- abolish
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to install or settle in a position, place, business, etc..
to establish one's child in business.
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to show to be valid or true; prove.
to establish the facts of the matter.
- Synonyms:
- substantiate, verify
- Antonyms:
- disprove
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to cause to be accepted or recognized.
to establish a custom; She established herself as a leading surgeon.
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to bring about permanently.
to establish order.
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to enact, appoint, or ordain for permanence, as a law; fix unalterably.
- Synonyms:
- decree
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to make (a church) a national or state institution.
-
Cards. to obtain control of (a suit) so that one can win all the subsequent tricks in it.
verb
-
to make secure or permanent in a certain place, condition, job, etc
to establish one's usefulness
to establish a house
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to create or set up (an organization, etc) on or as if on a permanent basis
to establish a company
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to prove correct or free from doubt; validate
to establish a fact
-
to cause (a principle, theory, etc) to be widely or permanently accepted
to establish a precedent
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to give (a Church) the status of a national institution
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(of a person) to become recognized and accepted
he established himself as a reliable GP
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(in works of imagination) to cause (a character, place, etc) to be credible and recognized
the first scene established the period
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cards to make winners of (the remaining cards of a suit) by forcing out opponents' top cards
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(also intr) botany
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to cause (a plant) to grow or (of a plant) to grow in a new place
the birch scrub has established over the past 25 years
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to become or cause to become a sapling or adult plant from a seedling
-
Related Words
See fix.
Other Word Forms
- establishable adjective
- establisher noun
- reestablish verb (used with object)
- superestablish verb (used with object)
- unestablishable adjective
Etymology
Origin of establish
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English establissen, establishen, from Middle French establiss-, extended stem of establir, from Latin stabilīre, derivative of stabilis stable 2
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.
As the game progressed, PSG were able to establish dominance in Liverpool's third.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
Iran, which has effectively shut the waterway, will supervise traffic during the cease-fire and hopes to establish a system of tolls.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
Bucket shop patrons were positioned heavily for Amalgamated to rise, so the proprietors shorted the stock “to establish as low a quotation as possible,” the Journal wrote.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
In order to open a full field investigation into a target, an agent would then need to establish an “articulable factual basis” for belief that a federal crime may be occurring.
From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026
For traits such as hemophilia, this was straightforward: one hardly needed twin studies to establish heredity.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions 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.
