accommodate

verb

ac·com·mo·date | \ ə-ˈkä-mə-ˌdāt

accommodated; accommodating

Definition of accommodate

transitive verb

1 : to provide with something desired, needed, or suited I needed money, and they accommodated me with a loan.

2a : to make room for rebuilt the ship to accommodate the bigger containers

b : to hold without crowding or inconvenience a hotel that can accommodate about 100 people

3 : to bring into agreement or concord : reconcile Investors quickly accommodated themselves to the new market conditions.

4 : to give consideration to : to allow for trying to accommodate the special interests of various groups

5 : to make fit, suitable, or congruous

intransitive verb

: to adapt oneself also : to undergo visual accommodation

Other Words from accommodate Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about accommodate

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Other Words from accommodate

accommodative \ -ˌdā-tiv

\ adjective

accommodativeness noun

accommodator \ -ˌdā-tər

\ noun

Choose the Right Synonym for accommodate

adapt, adjust, accommodate, conform, reconcile mean to bring one thing into correspondence with another. adapt implies a modification according to changing circumstances. adapted themselves to the warmer climate adjust suggests bringing into a close and exact correspondence or harmony such as exists between parts of a mechanism. adjusted the budget to allow for inflation accommodate may suggest yielding or compromising to effect a correspondence. accommodated his political beliefs in order to win conform applies to bringing into accordance with a pattern, example, or principle. refused to conform to society's values reconcile implies the demonstration of the underlying compatibility of things that seem to be incompatible. tried to reconcile what he said with what I knew

contain, hold, accommodate mean to have or be capable of having within. contain implies the actual presence of a specified substance or quantity within something. the can contains a quart of oil hold implies the capacity of containing or the usual or permanent function of containing or keeping. the bookcase will hold all my textbooks accommodate stresses holding without crowding or inconvenience. the hall can accommodate 500 people

Examples of accommodate in a Sentence

Although Lost World was the hottest movie around, we saw it in a chamber of almost laughable minuteness, barely large enough to accommodate nine rows of seats, which were grudgingly padded … — Bill Bryson, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999 … a farmhouse that has been redone to accommodate both good English antiques and luxe 20th-century comforts without sacrificing any of its rough-hewn charm. — Francine Prose, Travel & Leisure, December 1994 The young-adult horror authors tend to be too busy accommodating MTV attention spans to create vivid personalities … — Ken Tucker, New York Times Book Review, 14 Nov. 1993 … political authority depended on tribal leadership, and the scholars had to accommodate themselves to it. — Ernest Gellner, Culture, Identity, and Politics, 1987 Over 600 people can be accommodated on the cruise ship. The ceilings were too low to accommodate his terrific height. They were kind enough to accommodate me with a ride to the train station. I asked them for additional money, and they accommodated me with a loan. He would often change his schedule to accommodate his clients. New facilities are being added to accommodate the special needs of elderly residents. Smart investors quickly accommodated to the new market conditions.

Recent Examples on the Web

It's equipped with a full kitchen, living room, and bathroom and can accommodate up to six people. — Brittney Morgan, House Beautiful, "Spend A Night At The 'Christmas Story' House To Get Into The Holiday Spirit," 14 Dec. 2018 About 12 by 24 feet—essentially the size of a spacious master bedroom—the structures feature double French doors and can accommodate a wheelchair and hospital equipment, if needed. — Christine Coppa, Country Living, "'Granny Pods' Allow Elderly Family Members to Live in a High-Tech Backyard Cottage," 13 Dec. 2018 The 13-inch MacBook Pro can accommodate up to 8th-generation, quad-core Core i7 CPUs, Intel Iris Plus 655 graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 2TB of SSD storage. — Valentina Palladino, Ars Technica, "Apple to stop selling 2015 MacBook Pro with old-style keyboard, legacy ports," 12 July 2018 The reform shows that the central bank is no longer trying to accommodate competing objectives. — The Economist, "Turkey’s central bank has streamlined its fight against inflation," 31 May 2018 Unfortunately, the airline agent was dismissive and didn’t even try to be accommodating. — Seattle Times Readers, The Seattle Times, "Rant & Rave: Consignment store won’t look at my stuff," 25 May 2018 Sometimes people try to accommodate their partners’ desires this way, out of generosity. — Cari Romm, The Cut, "11 Sex Therapists on What Their Clients Tell Them About Oral Sex," 9 May 2018 SfN, as the conference is called, is so enormous that only seven cities in the United States can even accommodate it. — Jacqueline Detwiler, Popular Mechanics, "The Heroes of Science Who Are Unlocking the Brain," 3 Oct. 2018 Fergie, who has reportedly already been introduced to Markle by Prince Harry, has allegedly been complaining in private circles about her snub, but so far the guest list has not expanded to 251 to accommodate her. — Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News, "Meghan Markle, Prince Harry reportedly don't invite Sarah Ferguson to royal wedding event," 2 Oct. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'accommodate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for accommodate

borrowed from Latin accommodātus, past participle of accommodāre "to fit on, apply, make agree, make suitable, adapt," from ad- ad- + commodāre "to lend, hire, put at the disposal (of), provide," derivative of commodus "convenient, suitable" — more at commode

Note: In part a latinization of Middle French accommoder; John Palsgrave (Lʼéclaircissement de la langue française, 1530) renders accommodate with accommoder.

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Dictionary Entries near accommodate

Statistics for accommodate

Last Updated

21 Jan 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for accommodate

The first known use of accommodate was in 1538

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More Definitions for accommodate

accommodate

verb

English Language Learners Definition of accommodate

: to provide room for (someone) : to provide a place to stay and sleep for (someone)

: to have room for (someone or something)

: to do something helpful for (someone) : to provide what is needed or wanted for (someone or something)

See the full definition for accommodate in the English Language Learners Dictionary

accommodate

verb

ac·com·mo·date | \ ə-ˈkä-mə-ˌdāt

accommodated; accommodating

Kids Definition of accommodate

1 : to provide with a place to stay or sleep accommodate guests

2 : to provide with something needed : help out My teacher will change her schedule to accommodate her students.

3 : to have room for The bus accommodates 40 people.

accommodate

intransitive verb

ac·com·mo·date | \ ə-ˈkäm-ə-ˌdāt

accommodated; accommodating

Medical Definition of accommodate

: to adapt oneself also : to undergo visual accommodation

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accommodate

transitive verb

ac·com·mo·date | \ ə-ˈkä-mə-ˌdāt

accommodated; accommodating

Legal Definition of accommodate

1 : to make a change or provision for accommodate a disability — see also reasonable accommodation

2 : to accept without compensation responsibility for a debt of (another person) in the event of nonpayment as a way of reassuring a reluctant creditor — see also accommodation paper at paper, accommodation party at party sense 1a

Note: To accommodate a debtor effectively, the party must sign the debt instrument, adding words describing limitations or conditions to the accommodation, if any.