Adjacent Words

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CHOOSE, v.t.
1. To pick out; to select; to take by way of preference from two or more things offered; to make choice of.
The man the Lord doth choose shall be holy. Numbers 16.
2. To take in preference.
Let us choose to us judgment. Job 34.
3. To prefer; to choose for imitation; to follow.
Envy not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. Proverbs 3.
4. To elect for eternal happiness; to predestinate to life.
Many are called but few chosen. Matthew 20.
For his elects sake, whom he hath chosen. Mark 13.
5. To elect or designate to office or employment by votes or suffrages. In the United States, the people choose representatives by votes, usually by ballot.
CHOOSE, v.i.
1. To prefer; as, I choose to go.
2. To have the power of choice. The phrase, he cannot choose but stay, denotes that he has not the power of choice, whether to stay or not.
The verb, in these phrases, is really transitive; the following verb standing as the object, instead of a noun.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives; "Take any one of these cards"; "Choose a good husband for your daughter"; "She selected a pair of shoes from among the dozen the salesgirl had shown her" [syn: choose, take, select, pick out]
2: select as an alternative over another; "I always choose the fish over the meat courses in this restaurant"; "She opted for the job on the East coast" [syn: choose, prefer, opt]
3: see fit or proper to act in a certain way; decide to act in a certain way; "She chose not to attend classes and now she failed the exam"

Merriam Webster's

verb (chose; chosen; choosing) Etymology: Middle English chosen, from Old English c?osan; akin to Old High German kiosan to choose, Latin gustare to taste Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. a. to select freely and after consideration <choose a career> b. to decide on especially by vote ; elect <chose her as captain> 2. a. to have a preference for <choose one car over another> b. decide <chose to go by train> intransitive verb 1. to make a selection <finding it hard to choose> 2. to take an alternative — used after cannot and usually followed by but <when earth is so kind, men cannot choose but be happy — J. A. Froude> • chooser noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. (past chose; past part. chosen) 1 tr. select out of a greater number. 2 intr. (usu. foll. by between, from) take or select one or another. 3 tr. (usu. foll. by to + infin.) decide, be determined (chose to stay behind). 4 tr. (foll. by complement) select as (was chosen king). 5 tr. Theol. (esp. as chosen adj.) destine to be saved (God's chosen people). Phrases and idioms: cannot choose but archaic must. nothing (or little) to choose between them they are equivalent. Derivatives: chooser n. Etymology: OE ceosan f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Choose Choose, v. i. 1. To make a selection; to decide. They had only to choose between implicit obedience and open rebellion. --Prescott. 2. To do otherwise. ``Can I choose but smile?'' --Pope. Can not choose but, must necessarily. Thou canst not choose but know who I am. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Choose Choose, v. t. [imp. Chose; p. p. Chosen, Chose (Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Choosing.] [OE. chesen, cheosen, AS. ce['o]san; akin to OS. kiosan, D. kiezen, G. kiesen, Icel. kj[=o]sa, Goth. kiusan, L. gustare to taste, Gr. ?, Skr. jush to enjoy. [root]46. Cf. Choice, 2d Gust.] 1. To make choice of; to select; to take by way of preference from two or more objects offered; to elect; as, to choose the least of two evils. Choose me for a humble friend. --Pope. 2. To wish; to desire; to prefer. [Colloq.] The landlady now returned to know if we did not choose a more genteel apartment. --Goldsmith. To choose sides. See under Side. Syn: Syn. - To select; prefer; elect; adopt; follow. Usage: To Choose, Prefer, Elect. To choose is the generic term, and denotes to take or fix upon by an act of the will, especially in accordance with a decision of the judgment. To prefer is to choose or favor one thing as compared with, and more desirable than, another, or more in accordance with one's tastes and feelings. To elect is to choose or select for some office, employment, use, privilege, etc., especially by the concurrent vote or voice of a sufficient number of electors. To choose a profession; to prefer private life to a public one; to elect members of Congress.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(chooses, choosing, chose, chosen) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you choose someone or something from several people or things that are available, you decide which person or thing you want to have. They will be able to choose their own leaders in democratic elections... This week he has chosen Peter Mandelson to replace Mo Mowlam... There are several patchwork cushions to choose from... Houston was chosen as the site for the convention... He did well in his chosen profession. = select VERB: V n, V n to-inf, V from/between n, be V-ed as n, V-ed, also V n as n, V 2. If you choose to do something, you do it because you want to or because you feel that it is right. They knew that discrimination was going on, but chose to ignore it... You can just take out the interest each year, if you choose. VERB: V to-inf, V 3. If there is little to choose between people or things or nothing to choose between them, it is difficult to decide which is better or more suitable. (mainly BRIT) There is very little to choose between the world's top tennis players. PHRASE: v-link PHR 4. The chosen few are a small group who are treated better than other people. You sometimes use this expression when you think this is unfair. Learning should no longer be an elitist pastime for the chosen few. = elite PHRASE 5. to pick and choose: see pick

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Select, elect, prefer, cull, pick, pick out, single out, fix upon, pitch upon, make choice of.

Moby Thesaurus

adopt, aim at, be desirous of, choose to, choosy, co-opt, command, covet, crave, cull, decide, decree, delicate, desiderate, desire, determine, elect, embrace, espouse, fancy, fastidious, favor, finical, finicking, finicky, fussy, have designs on, judge, like, love, lust, lust after, make choice of, mark, nice, opt, opt for, particular, pernickety, persnickety, pick, pick and choose, pick out, please, prefer, resolve, see fit, select, settle on, settle upon, single out, take, take to, think fit, think good, think proper, want, will, wish, wish to goodness, wish very much, would fain do