configure
Americanverb (used with object)
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to design or adapt to form a specific configuration or for some specific purpose.
The planes are being configured to hold more passengers in each row.
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Computers.
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to put together (a computer or computer system) by supplying, arranging, or connecting a specific set of internal or external components.
My next laptop will be configured for gaming with a fast processor and lots of memory.
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to set up (a software program or device) for a particular computer, computer system, or task.
to configure the printer for a wireless network.
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verb
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to arrange or organize
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computing to set up (a piece of hardware or software) as required
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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configuresimple
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configuressimple
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have configuredperfect
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has configuredperfect
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am configuringprogressive
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are configuringprogressive
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is configuringprogressive
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have been configuringperfect progressive
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has been configuringperfect progressive
Past
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configuredsimple
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had configuredperfect
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was configuringprogressive
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were configuringprogressive
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had been configuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of configure
Back formation from configuration
Vocabulary lists containing configure
Computer Science and Technology - Middle School
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Computer Science and Technology - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
You can configure the VPN to automatically connect whenever you’re online or have the app ask you whether or not to connect.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
The archbishop was free to configure it as a workplace, to choose its decorative furnishings and its degree of illumination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Parents also have tools, including the ability to configure settings on streaming accounts to try to shield children from inappropriate content.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2025
Depending on how Slot chooses to configure the full-back roles this summer, with a potential replacement for Robertson also needed, there are a few players worth considering for Liverpool.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2025
Guys like Dr. Strayer were hired to figure out how to configure networks and displays so that the information was useful and life- preserving—not overwhelming and deadly.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
The Genesis GV70 boasts active-noise cancellation in the cabin and a fingerprint scanner that configures the car for whoever is behind the wheel.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2024
GoBubble is a company that configures AI software to act as a filter to stop discriminatory comments from being seen by a social media user.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
Noe installs and configures software on home computers.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020
The family unit, as Harris configures it, was matriarchal—“Shyamala and the girls.”
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 15, 2019
But qua becoming, and irrespective of all special aspects with which it historically configures itself, the spirit has already a content of its own, which cannot be absent from any of its historical configurations.
From The Reform of Education by Gentile, Giovanni
The software had been configured “for evaluation purposes” to be less likely to refuse hacking commands, OpenAI said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
High Park Farm also looms large in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Exhibit, with a whole section configured to look like the inside of their farmhouse: wood paneling, quaint lighting, faux windows.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
Qantas said it would take delivery of 12 aircraft in total, each configured with 238 seats across four cabins.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
“Then those adjustments would be brought back to the product team and configured so that every customer could benefit from that innovation in the field.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 4, 2026
The incentives of the real-estate business, as currently configured, plainly encourage some agents to act against the best interests of their customers.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
“We tried configuring an off-the-shelf tool for our cycle. Too many fields we don’t need, missing the ones we do…So I just built what we needed. Took a night and a morning,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
If the thought of configuring a VPN makes you break out in a cold sweat, this one’s for you.
From Salon ● Feb. 11, 2026
The team's chief innovation is configuring their "neutral atom array" to be able to dynamically change its layout by moving and connecting atoms -- this is called "entangling" in physics parlance -- mid-computation.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2023
Yvonne began designing and configuring Día de Muertos ofrendas when she needed a place to mourn after her nephew and best friend passed away in 1997.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2022
If you don't want this, read about configuring inetd and the file /etc/services.
From Debian GNU/Linux : Guide to Installation and Usage by Goerzen, John
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.
