accustom

verb ac·cus·tom \ ə-ˈkəs-təm \

|Updated on: 9 Aug 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

In the championship finale, the entire Cubs team played stellar defense against a high-powered Astros team that was accustomed to putting up big offensive numbers.

— emmett hall, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Cooper City Optimist Cubs claw their way to a perfect season," 8 July 2018
But the Thai frogmen were accustomed to tropical open water, not the gloomy, cold currents racing through the cave.

— hannah beech, richard c. paddock and muktita suhartono, New York Times, "‘Still Can’t Believe It Worked’: The Story of the Thailand Cave Rescue," 12 July 2018
Because they are accustomed now to winning these victories on social policies and other issues by judicial fiat.

— Fox News, "Leonard Leo on why Trump appointed Judge Kavanaugh," 10 July 2018
The parents were accustomed to communication difficulties with their daughter.

— jay mathews, Washington Post, "Their daughter wasn’t graduating. Why didn’t they know till graduation day?," 1 July 2018
The bathroom was designed as a mirror image of the one Grace Gibbs was accustomed to in their Annandale house.

— audrey hoffe, The Seattle Times, "Together always: Homes with multigenerational family members are a growing trend," 21 Apr. 2018
The offseason organized team activities and subsequent minicamp have given the quartet their first chances to accustom themselves with one another and begin to build a cohesive connection.

— shaun goodwin, kansascity, "New contingency of quarterbacks isn’t a bad thing for the Chiefs, Pat Mahomes," 14 June 2018
Marra was accustomed to background noise on his fiber optics.

— eric hand, Science | AAAS, "Seafloor cables that carry the world’s internet traffic can also detect earthquakes," 14 June 2018
The volcano is one of Central America's most active, and everyone was accustomed to rumbling and spewing smoke, so at first nothing seemed unusual Sunday, the 33-year-old farm worker said.

— Fox News, "At Guatemala volcano, weather and danger hinder search," 7 June 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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