adapt

verb

\ ə-ˈdapt

, a-\

adapted; adapting; adapts

Definition of adapt

transitive verb

: to make fit (as for a new use) often by modification adapt the curriculum to students' needs

intransitive verb

: to become adapted adapt to a new enviroment

Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about adapt

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Choose the Right Synonym for adapt

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

Examples of adapt in a Sentence

When children go to a different school, it usually takes them a while to adapt. She has adapted herself to college life quite easily. The camera has been adapted for underwater use. The clock was adapted to run on batteries. The movie was adapted from the book of the same title. adapting the movie for television

Recent Examples on the Web

But in March, three investors in the company—Legion Partners Asset Management LLC, Macellum Advisors GP LLC and Ancora Advisors LLC—called for his ouster, claiming the company failed to adapt its business model as consumers... — Micah Maidenberg, WSJ, "Bed Bath & Beyond Chief Executive Steps Down," 13 May 2019 Of course, Iceland has desalinated water in spades; not so for elsewhere on Earth, which, for now, makes this project pretty hard to adopt in other countries if the CarbFix team can't adapt the method to salt water. — Andrew Daniels, Popular Mechanics, "Iceland’s Radical Plan to Slow Climate Change," 9 May 2019 The story, adapted by Granik and Rosellini from Peter Rock’s novel My Abandonment, begins with Will and Tom in the woods. — David Sims, The Atlantic, "Leave No Trace Is a Shattering, Essential Drama," 28 June 2018 López Obrador adapts speeches to his audiences with the precision of a marksman. — Nacha Cattan, Bloomberg.com, "The Man They Call AMLO, and Why He’s Captured Mexico," 30 June 2018 Reps for the Freeform drama — a series of books that were adapted for TV by the team behind Pretty Little Liars — told PEOPLE that a cancellation is not confirmed and that no decision has been made at this time. — Natalie Stone, PEOPLE.com, "Bella Thorne Says She 'Woulda Liked a Phone Call' After Seeing Report That Her Show Was Canceled," 26 June 2018 The sonnet, an Italian contrivance adapted by the poets of the English Renaissance, was handed down to twentieth-century writers like Robert Lowell and Gwendolyn Brooks and self-consciously Americanized—its gait loosened, its politics sharpened. — Dan Chiasson, The New Yorker, "The Politics and Play of Terrance Hayes," 24 June 2018 The resulting genetic data could bring more effective conservation plans by revealing how some organisms are able to adapt to climate change — or how genetic mutations may be threatening to speed their demise. — Bryn Nelson /, NBC News, "The audacious plan to catalog all life on Earth," 14 June 2018 H&R Block is trying to adapt to this new reality by offering its own home tax software. — Brittany Shoot, Fortune, "H&R Block Is Closing 400 Locations," 13 June 2018

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

History and Etymology for adapt

Middle English adapted (as translation of Latin adaptātus), borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French adapter, borrowed from Latin adaptāre, from ad- ad- + aptāre "to put into position, bring to bear, make ready," verbal derivative of aptus "fastened, prepared, suitable" — more at apt entry 1