schedule
Americannoun
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schedules
plural
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a plan of procedure, usually written, for a proposed objective, especially with reference to the sequence of and time allotted for each item or operation necessary to its completion.
The schedule allows three weeks for this stage.
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a series of things to be done or of events to occur at or during a particular time or period.
He always has a full schedule.
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a timetable.
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a written or printed statement of details, often in classified or tabular form, especially one forming an appendix or explanatory addition to another document.
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Obsolete. a written paper.
noun
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a plan of procedure for a project, allotting the work to be done and the time for it
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a list of items
a schedule of fixed prices
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a list of times, esp of arrivals and departures; timetable
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a list of tasks to be performed, esp within a set period
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law a list or inventory, usually supplementary to a contract, will, etc
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at the expected or planned time
verb
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to make a schedule of or place in a schedule
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to plan to occur at a certain time
Synonym Usage
See list 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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schedulernoun
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subschedulenoun
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prescheduleverb (used with object)
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schedularadjective
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unscheduledadjective
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well-scheduledadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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schedulesimple
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schedulessimple
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have scheduledperfect
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has scheduledperfect
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am schedulingprogressive
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are schedulingprogressive
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is schedulingprogressive
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have been schedulingperfect progressive
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has been schedulingperfect progressive
Past
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scheduledsimple
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had scheduledperfect
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was schedulingprogressive
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were schedulingprogressive
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had been schedulingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of schedule
First recorded in 1350–1400; from Late Latin schedula, equivalent to Latin sched(a) “leaf of paper” + -ula noun suffix ( see -ule); replacing Middle English cedule, sedule, from Middle French, from Late Latin, as above
Explanation
A schedule is a plan of things to be done and the time when they will be done. It is the thing you write down in your planner. If you're a student, you probably have your class schedule memorized within the first few weeks of school. This noun derives from Middle English sedule "slip of parchment or paper, note," from Late Latin schedula, from scheda "a strip of papyrus," from Greek schida "a splinter of wood." The modern spelling schedule did not become established until the mid 17th century. And the current American pronunciation, patterned on words such as scheme and school, was not in use until the 19th century.
Vocabulary lists containing schedule
Words Whose Pronunciation Has Changed Over Time
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List 3
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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:
What’s more, the contract must have specific details about the scope of the work, price, payment schedule, start and completion dates, and other required terms.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
The commission's four appointed experts were unable to agree on which approach to take and ended up writing two reports, submitted nearly six months behind schedule.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
The executive order came after Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr took a number of steps to remake US vaccine policies over the past year, including the childhood vaccination schedule.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Brent Mayo, whom OpenAI hired from Elon Musk’s xAI earlier this year, reports to Ruddarraju and is responsible for helping ensure the company’s computing projects are completed on schedule.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
I paw through my backpack looking for my schedule.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
A lightning strike on air traffic control systems at Luton Airport has affected flight landings and schedules.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Good teams are given harder schedules than bad ones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
But every other chip in the data center can be pointed at whatever model comes next, which is the assumption underneath the current depreciation schedules the AI buildout is financed on.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
British budget carrier easyJet has called off about 100 flights out of French airports on Saturday and Sunday because of a strike by cabin crew furious over repeated changes to their schedules.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Plane tickets were bought, schedules scheduled, plans laid.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
TBD will be back to regularly scheduled programming next week.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
Zymire Hughes, 22, is being held in Clark County jail, with a court hearing scheduled for Thursday morning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
The council’s first meeting is tentatively scheduled for the end of September, though it is unclear what is on the agenda.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
GTA 6 was originally scheduled for a late 2025 launch but will finally be released on November 19.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
“I’d have scheduled my day so differently if I’d known about this.”
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
Beyond scheduling difficulties for parents, clinics and doctors’ offices, no company even makes separate immunizations for measles, mumps and rubella, Pan said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Complaints regarding television and live streaming service adverts for the film were not upheld by the regulator, as Clearcast - which pre-approves TV and streaming ads - had applied a post-19:30 scheduling restriction.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Salt acknowledged the difficulties of finding more time in the schedule, while noting the impact the current scheduling had on his squad.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The clearest evidence came one late-summer afternoon, when several weeks of bad weather produced a scheduling anomaly: two neighborhood farmers markets on the same day.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
“I know you’re in preseason training, but I'm going to talk to Coach about scheduling in some tutoring time. I'm not going to be the guy who gave you an F and made you ineligible.”
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
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.
