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
-
to install or settle in a position, place, business, etc..
to establish one's child in business.
-
to show to be valid or true; prove.
to establish the facts of the matter.
- Synonyms:
- substantiate, verify
- Antonyms:
- disprove
-
to cause to be accepted or recognized.
to establish a custom; She established herself as a leading surgeon.
-
to bring about permanently.
to establish order.
-
to enact, appoint, or ordain for permanence, as a law; fix unalterably.
- Synonyms:
- decree
-
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
-
to create or set up (an organization, etc) on or as if on a permanent basis
to establish a company
-
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
-
to give (a Church) the status of a national institution
-
(of a person) to become recognized and accepted
he established himself as a reliable GP
-
(in works of imagination) to cause (a character, place, etc) to be credible and recognized
the first scene established the period
-
cards to make winners of (the remaining cards of a suit) by forcing out opponents' top cards
-
(also intr) botany
-
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
-
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.
Billionaires who hadn’t already established residency elsewhere by Jan. 1 this year have missed a crucial deadline.
From Los Angeles Times
The 2018 law establishing the program had good intentions, he said, but lacked proper legislative vetting.
From Los Angeles Times
Raised in a working-class family in Sheffield, Hamed established himself as one of the brightest young talents in boxing after being introduced to the sport by his father aged seven.
From BBC
According to established theories, galaxy clusters at this stage should not yet reach such extreme temperatures.
From Science Daily
MiniMax, established in 2022, targets the consumer market, particularly outside China, with its generative AI tools for speech, music and video, as well as text.
From Barron's
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.
