perform

American  

[per-fawrm] / pərˈfɔrm /

verb (used with object)

• performs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• performed,
  past participle,  past
• performing
  present participle

1. to carry out; execute; do.

   to perform miracles.

2. to go through or execute in the proper, customary, or established manner.

   to perform the marriage ceremony.

3. to carry into effect; fulfill.

   Perform what you promise.

   Synonyms:

   effect, achieve, accomplish

4. to enact (a play, part, etc.), as on the stage, in movies, or on television.

5. to render (music), as by playing or singing.

6. to accomplish (any action involving skill or ability), as before an audience.

   to perform a juggling act.

7. to complete.

8. to exhibit behaviors associated with (a particular social role or identity).

   This study investigates the ways in which biracial Americans perform race in their day-to-day lives.

9. to behave in ways that exhibit (a socially acceptable belief, trait, or quality), often merely for show.

   Nineteenth-century British women found in the antislavery movement a perfect way to perform empathy.

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verb (used without object)

• performs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• performed,
  past participle,  past
• performing
  present participle

1. to fulfill a command, promise, or undertaking.

2. to execute or do something.

3. to act in a play.

   to perform in the role of Romeo.

4. to perform music.

5. to go through any performance.

6. (of loans, investments, etc.) to yield a profit; earn income.

7. to have sexual intercourse.

   I could not perform in my first intimate encounter with the love of my life.

perform British  

/ pəˈfɔːm /

verb

1. to carry out or do (an action)

2. (tr) to fulfil or comply with

   to perform someone's request

3. to present or enact (a play, concert, etc) before or otherwise entertain an audience

   the group performed Hamlet

4. informal (intr) to accomplish sexual intercourse

   he performed well

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Synonym Usage

Perform, discharge, execute, transact mean to carry to completion a prescribed course of action. Perform is the general word, often applied to ordinary activity as a more formal expression than do, but usually implying regular, methodical, or prolonged application or work: to perform an exacting task. Discharge implies carrying out an obligation, often a formal or legal one: to discharge one's duties as a citizen. Execute means either to carry out an order or to carry through a plan or program: to execute a maneuver. Transact, meaning to conduct or manage, has commercial connotations: to transact business.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• performer
  noun
• misperform
  verb
• overperform
  verb
• reperform
  verb (used with object)
• performable
  adjective
• self-performed
  adjective
• unperformable
  adjective
• unperformed
  adjective
• unperforming
  adjective
• well-performed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• performing
  present
• performed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• perform
  simple
• performs
  simple
• have performed
  perfect
• has performed
  perfect
• am performing
  progressive
• are performing
  progressive
• is performing
  progressive
• have been performing
  perfect progressive
• has been performing
  perfect progressive

Past

• performed
  simple
• had performed
  perfect
• was performing
  progressive
• were performing
  progressive
• had been performing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will perform
  simple
• will have performed
  perfect
• will be performing
  progressive
• will have been performing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of perform

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English parformen, from Anglo-French parformer, alteration (by association with forme form ) of Middle French, Old French parfournir “to accomplish”; see per-, furnish

Explanation

To perform most often means to sing, dance act or put on any kind of show. Perform also means, however, to carry out almost any function or action — to do something, in other words. Parents love to watch their kids perform. Nothing delights mommy or daddy more than watching junior sing or dance in the school play. Later in life, though, they'll be happy when their kids perform acts of kindness or when they perform the duties required of them by their jobs. "The surgeon entertained the other doctors when he performed an aria from Rigoletto while he performed an appendectomy." Now that's impressive.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

perform performs performed performing

We have sophisticated breeding programs, world-class genetics and an enormous herd of cattle developed to perform in the harshest conditions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

"Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium," Macklemore wrote of Kraft, who also owns the New England Patriots American football team.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

For years, researchers often worked from the assumption that networks should perform more reliably when their individual parts behave as similarly as possible.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

That is to stay above police helicopters, under commercial flights, and still have enough space in case they need to perform an emergency autorotation procedure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

After a few times through, have the students drop the chanting and perform the piece using clapping only.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Researchers in Tristan Wagner's laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen wanted to understand how this organism performs nitrogen fixation under such extreme conditions.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

Styles' music played in the shops and staff wore ties to "dress up" like the artist, who often performs wearing the accessory.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

And if he performs in the postseason, that will drown out any lingering what-ifs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

“A strong book would help stabilize the 30-year gilt sector,” she says, “But we would not read too much into demand unless the bond performs after pricing.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

She learns surveillance techniques, performs backflips, and masters the removal of handcuffs and straitjackets.

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart

The researchers first performed the measurements using copper masses.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Some recited Whanki's essays, while a local shaman performed a "healing ritual".

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

In late July, North Korean dancers performed at a meat-processing facility near a military air base in the Moscow region, in a concert commemorating the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

I chose the Vanguard fund for this example not because it has performed particularly well, nor with the benefit of hindsight, but because it is the simplest, most basic stock fund you can buy.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

She was seventy-seven and thinking of having an operation, and she wanted it performed in the United States.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

In 2026, researchers highlighted images and video of western drywood termites performing proctodeal trophallaxis, a feeding behavior in which one termite receives material from another termite's hindgut.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

The three men maintained that they were performing citizen journalism and were at her property to obtain a doorstep interview, as part of their own documentary, and that they were acting in the public interest.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Readings of market breadth, which take into account how the majority of stocks are performing, rather than just those in major indexes, are negative on many fronts.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

For many of these stars, performing is simply what they live for.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Right before he’d snuck out of the apartment, he’d spotted his father performing his evening prayers.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

Related Words

• achieve
• act
• behave
• complete
• do
• execute
• finish
• function
• implement
• meet
• observe
• operate
• take
• work