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Synonyms

orientate

American  
[awr-ee-uhn-teyt, -en-, ohr-] / ˈɔr i ənˌteɪt, -ɛn-, ˈoʊr- /

verb (used with or without object)

Chiefly British.
  • orientates,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • orientated,
    past participle,  past
  • orientating
    present participle
  1. orient.


orientate British  
/ ˈɔːrɪɛnˌteɪt /

verb

  1. a variant of orient

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Conjugated Forms

Present

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Etymology

Origin of orientate

1840–50; < French orient(er) “to orient ” + -ate 1

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:

“It’s an actual piece of physical feedback you can get to help orientate yourself,” says Calahan Young, who is headed to his second Paralympics with the U.S. team.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 28, 2024

Their horizons have no landmarks to hang on to: nothing to orientate yourself toward.

From Salon Jun. 24, 2023

According to the Elysée palace, President Macron has "made the choice to orientate this visit towards the future… and lay down the basis for a relaunching of the relationship".

From BBC Aug. 24, 2022

To begin the procedure, a patient dons a nasal clip that the machine uses to orientate itself.

From The Verge Aug. 24, 2020

The extra syllable in orientate is ugly and unnecessary, though not a federal offense.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

The pump orientates 360 degrees, so you can place it in any case configuration.

From The Verge Oct. 21, 2021

This orientates all the elements of the understanding, as the magnet collects into regular curves the filings of a magnetic metal.

From The Psychology of Revolution by Gustave Le Bon

The orientates, though in infinite numbers, scarcely came out but in the night, when they made every thing in the cabins seem as if in motion, from the particular noise in crawling about.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 16 by Robert Kerr

S. Petronio is situated at its southern end, and orientates south by west.

From Cathedral Cities of Italy by William Wiehe Collins

"He's a lovely boy, very family orientated and very protective," she said.

From BBC Dec. 3, 2024

The properties of clay and claystone crucially depend on how the tiny sediment particles are orientated.

From Science Daily Dec. 2, 2024

Streets are narrow and orientated to channel the typically northwestern breeze.

From Seattle Times Dec. 8, 2023

He has been spending a lot of time in Germany where they have been keen to promote his new songs, which are more pop music orientated.

From BBC Jul. 6, 2023

“We have to get orientated first,” I said.

From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers

McGinley’s recent imagery, exhibited for the first time at the Marlborough show, is his most compositional work yet, orientating his youthful bodies in the flood of colour and light that nature provides in full bloom.

From The Guardian Apr. 21, 2020

It therefore assists us in properly orientating ourselves to read another treatise from the greatest mathematician of antiquity that sets clearly before us his indebtedness to the mechanical applications of his subject.

From Geometrical Solutions Derived from Mechanics; a Treatise of Archimedes by Archimedes

Phobos was just rising in the west, and orientating herself by this tiny moon she struck out in a north-easterly direction, seeking a favorable current to carry her toward Tarog.

From The Martian Cabal by Roman Frederick Starzl

So, orientating once more like a fragile tendril, he reached again for the banister rail, and got it.

From Aaron's Rod by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

"Christopher Mead, Assistant Undersecretary for External Affairs," the assistant said, orientating himself.

From Citadel by H. R. van Dongen

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