accustom

verb ac·cus·tom \ ə-ˈkəs-təm \

|Updated on: 14 Jun 2018

Examples: accustom in a Sentence

Definition of accustom

accustomed; accustoming; accustoms

transitive verb

: to make familiar with something through use or experience

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accustomation

play \-ˌkəs-tə-ˈmā-shən\ noun

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Examples of accustom in a Sentence

the task of accustoming new recruits to shipboard life

Recent Examples of accustom from the Web

While seven-figure losses sound big on the surface, casinos are accustomed to occasionally taking their lumps.

— author: rick maese, Anchorage Daily News, "The house doesn’t always win: Las Vegas may lose millions on the home team," 30 May 2018
Clients lost faith in our ability to deliver the quality they were accustomed to getting from us.

— dan rodricks, baltimoresun.com, "Crab pickers, landscapers and bad policy," 8 May 2018
Growing up in Dallas, Richards said, she was accustomed to standing in opposition to the dominant politics around her.

— kate tuttle, BostonGlobe.com, "An activist who was born independent," 29 Mar. 2018
But he wasn't accustomed to the media swarm that greeted him at the Atlanta hotel Monday night.

— katherine peralta, charlotteobserver, "Besides forgetting his cuff links, Panthers new owner appears off to a good start | Charlotte Observer," 22 May 2018
Doctors were accustomed to tissue samples dying off quickly once removed from their hosts, and were shocked at the unflagging replication rate of the cells from Lacks’s cervix.

— ryan p. smith, Smithsonian, "Famed for “Immortal” Cells, Henrietta Lacks is Immortalized in Portraiture," 15 May 2018
Animals were accustomed to finding relief at the stock pond where the horses died, but locals say the pool of water beneath the decades-old earthen dam has dried up more quickly each year.

— CBS News, "Nearly 200 horses found dead amid Southwest drought in Arizona," 6 May 2018
The compact schedule is one of many unfamiliar challenges presented by the Triple Crown series, especially to modern racehorses accustomed to lighter schedules than their predecessors.

— childs walker, baltimoresun.com, "Five storylines for Preakness 2018," 11 May 2018
Animals were accustomed to finding relief at the stock pond where the horses died, but locals say the pool of water beneath the decades-old earthen dam has dried up more quickly each year.

— CBS News, "Nearly 200 horses found dead amid Southwest drought in Arizona," 6 May 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of accustom

Middle English acustomen "to habituate (reflexive or intransitive)," borrowed from Anglo-French acustumer, acostumer, from a-, prefix forming transitive verbs (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + -customer, costomer, verbal derivative of custume ¹custom

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First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined above

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