Become
[bɪ'kʌm]
Definition
(verb.) enter or assume a certain state or condition; 'He became annoyed when he heard the bad news'; 'It must be getting more serious'; 'her face went red with anger'; 'She went into ecstasy'; 'Get going!'.
(verb.) come into existence; 'What becomes has duration'.
(verb.) undergo a change or development; 'The water turned into ice'; 'Her former friend became her worst enemy'; 'He turned traitor'.
(verb.) enhance the appearance of; 'Mourning becomes Electra'; 'This behavior doesn't suit you!'.
Checker: Tom--From WordNet
Definition
(p. p.) of Become
(v. i.) To pass from one state to another; to enter into some state or condition, by a change from another state, or by assuming or receiving new properties or qualities, additional matter, or a new character.
(v. i.) To come; to get.
(v. t.) To suit or be suitable to; to be congruous with; to befit; to accord with, in character or circumstances; to be worthy of, or proper for; to cause to appear well; -- said of persons and things.
Typed by Frank
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. [1]. Be.[2]. Change to, be changed to, be converted into, get to be, come to be.
v. a. Suit, befit, be suitable to, be proper for, be appropriate to.
Checker: Lyman
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Befit, grace, beseem, behove
ANT:Misbeseem, misfit, misbecome, disgrace
Editor: Moll
Definition
v.i. to pass from one state to another: to come to be: to be the fate or end of (followed by of).—v.t. to suit or befit to grace or adorn fittingly (with dat. object):—pa.t. becāme′; pa.p. become′.—adj. Becom′ing suitable to: graceful.—adv. Becom′ingly.—n. Becom′ingness.
Inputed by Jane
Examples
- By all which acquirements, I should be a living treasure of knowledge and wisdom, and certainly become the oracle of the nation. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- But this does not mean that men will have become homeless and all adrift. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The peninsula of Italy was not then the smiling land of vineyards and olive orchards it has since become. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The business may still flourish with good management, and the master become as rich as any of the company. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- Daguerreotypy, while the father of them all, is now hardly practised as Daguerre practised it, and has become a small subordinate sub-division of the great class. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Why, do you not know that Sydenham and I are become man and wife? Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- She had sold it to become Sir Pitt Crawley's wife. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- After waiting some time Mrs. Clements became alarmed, and ordered the cabman to drive back to her lodgings. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Strange shipping became more frequent, passing the Japanese headlands; sometimes ships were wrecked and sailors brought ashore. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The penniless Colonel became quite obsequious and respectful to the head of his house, and despised the milksop Pitt no longer. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Suddenly I became as it were the father of all mankind. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The chateau awoke later, as became its quality, but awoke gradually and surely. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- He became very confused and silent. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- What became of the two men? Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- A genius usually becomes the luminous center of a nation's crisis,--men see better by the light of him. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- When the iron parts with its carbon it loses its fluidity and becomes plastic and coherent, and is formed into balls called _blooms_. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- He becomes careful to instruct them, and attentive to assist and relieve them. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- If a gas jet is turned on and not lighted, an odor of gas soon becomes perceptible, not only throughout the room, but in adjacent halls and even in distant rooms. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- When we look at near objects, the muscles act in such a way that the lens bulges out, and becomes thick in the middle and of the right curvature to focus the near object upon the screen. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- I am sure we are constantly hearing, ma'am, till it becomes quite nauseous, concerning their wives and families,' said Bitzer. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- To save her from misconstruction, cruel misconstruction, that even my friends have not been able to avoid, becomes my duty. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- This latter task was becoming more and more difficult, for the blacks had taken to hiding their supply away at night in granaries and living huts. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- The tension of patriotic and republican France was now becoming intolerable. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- This is not becoming in a sensible dog; anybody would think you were a silly young gentleman. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- It was evident to me that he was becoming uneasy, and that his plans were not working out altogether as he had hoped. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The satellite was gone; and Mr Inspector, becoming once again the quiet Abbot of that Monastery, dipped his pen in his ink and resumed his books. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Laughing and chattering like the idiot I was fast becoming I fell upon his prostrate form my fingers feeling for his dead throat. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- I saw then that there was scarcely a chance of this ever becoming a practicable route for moving troops through an enemy's country. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
Typed by Lloyd