assign

verb

as·sign | \ ə-ˈsīn

assigned; assigning; assigns

Definition of assign

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to transfer (property) to another especially in trust or for the benefit of creditors

2a : to appoint to a post or duty assigned them to light duty assigned me two clerks

b : to appoint as a duty or task assigns 20 pages for homework

3 : to fix or specify in correspondence or relationship : select, designate assign counsel to the defendant assign a value to the variable Though assigned male at birth, she appears most comfortable and in her element wearing a skirt and high-heeled sandals when riding a big-wheel or playing with a tea set.— Will Dean

4a : to ascribe as a motive, reason, or cause especially after deliberation

b : to consider to belong to a specified period of time Archaeologists assign the weapon to the eleventh century.

assign

noun

Definition of assign (Entry 2 of 2)

: assignee sense 3 heirs and assigns

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

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Other Words from assign

Verb

assignability \ ə-ˌsī-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē

\ noun

assignable \ ə-ˈsī-nə-bəl

\ adjective

assigner \ ə-ˈsī-nər

\ or assignor \ ˌa-sə-ˈnȯr

, ˌa-ˌsī- , ə-ˌsī- \ noun

Synonyms for assign

Synonyms: Verb

charge, commission, entrust (also intrust), task, trust

Choose the Right Synonym for assign

Verb

ascribe, attribute, assign, impute, credit mean to lay something to the account of a person or thing. ascribe suggests an inferring or conjecturing of cause, quality, authorship. forged paintings formerly ascribed to masters attribute suggests less tentativeness than ascribe, less definiteness than assign. attributed to Rembrandt but possibly done by an associate assign implies ascribing with certainty or after deliberation. assigned the bones to the Cretaceous period impute suggests ascribing something that brings discredit by way of accusation or blame. tried to impute sinister motives to my actions credit implies ascribing a thing or especially an action to a person or other thing as its agent, source, or explanation. credited his teammates for his success

Examples of assign in a Sentence

Verb

The teacher assigned us 50 math problems for homework! She was assigned to the embassy in India. The new teacher was assigned to the science laboratory. The plane landed at its assigned gate.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

China and European countries warned against hastily assigning blame. — Anchorage Daily News, "Tehran rules out talks with U.S. as Trump steps back from directly blaming Iran," 17 Sep. 2019 China and European countries warned against hastily assigning blame. — Shane Harris, Washington Post, "Tehran rules out talks with U.S. as Trump steps back from directly blaming Iran," 17 Sep. 2019 The New Mexico native put an emphasis on covering and assigning stories and essays involving Mexican products and ingredients, like pozole and chipotle peppers. — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, "For over 137 years, no newspaper has covered Mexican food better than the L.A. Times," 17 Sep. 2019 Deputy Trina Schrader, of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau, confirmed Monday that deputies assigned to the Crescenta Valley station responded to a robbery call at around 1:21 a.m. Monday on Angeles Crest Highway north of La Cañada Flintridge. — Sara Cardine, La Cañada Valley Sun, "Man suspected of impersonating officer, leading real authorities on brief ACH pursuit," 16 Sep. 2019 Ilunga resigned in protest after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi removed him as the head of the country's Ebola response team and assigned the leadership of the unit to a committee that will report directly to the president's office. — Bukola Adebayo, CNN, "Congo's former health minister detained over alleged mismanagement of $4.3 million in Ebola funds," 16 Sep. 2019 The detention operations are within the Guantánamo Bay naval station, which has 6,000 residents, including the more than 2,000 troops and civilians assigned to the detention operation. — New York Times, "The Cost of Running Guantánamo Bay: $13 Million Per Prisoner," 16 Sep. 2019 The company then assigns scores to specific characteristics and features before arriving at an overall rating for the car. — Dalvin Brown, USA TODAY, "Nervous about looming gas price hikes? Electrics are an option.," 16 Sep. 2019 The researchers randomly assigned five people to take hot yoga classes three times a week, for 12 weeks; the rest served as a comparison group. — Amy Norton, chicagotribune.com, "‘Hot’ yoga, hula dance your way to healthy blood pressure," 16 Sep. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The Harvard historian Serhii Plokhy’s 2018 book on Chernobyl reconstructs the sequence of events and assigns blame. — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, "What HBO’s “Chernobyl” Got Right, and What It Got Terribly Wrong," 4 June 2019 IBT Media and its affiliates, successors, assigns, employees, agents, directors, officers and shareholders do not undertake or assume any duty to monitor our site for inappropriate or unlawful content. — Newsweek, "Terms of Service," 14 Mar. 2018 Schools that are oversubscribed assign seats by lottery. — Kate Taylor, New York Times, "City Announces Plan to Diversify Lower Manhattan Schools," 26 Oct. 2017

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

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Dictionary Entries near assign

Statistics for assign

Last Updated

17 Oct 2019

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Time Traveler for assign

The first known use of assign was in the 13th century

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More Definitions for assign

assign

verb

English Language Learners Definition of assign

: to give someone a particular job or duty : to require someone to do a particular task

: to send (someone) to a particular group or place as part of a job

: to give out something : to provide someone with something

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

assign

verb

as·sign | \ ə-ˈsīn

assigned; assigning

Kids Definition of assign

1 : to give out as a job or responsibility Our teacher assigned homework in math.

2 : to give out to : provide Each student is assigned a locker.

3 : to give a particular quality, value, or identity to Assign a number to each picture.

assign

transitive verb

as·sign | \ ə-ˈsīn

Legal Definition of assign

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to transfer (property or rights) to another the general practice by inventors of assigning patent rights— J. K. Owens

2 : to appoint to a post or duty assigned to represent the defendant

3 : to fix or specify in relationship or correspondence a party may assign as error…a failure to give an instruction, if that party properly requested it — Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 51

Other Words from assign

assignability \ ə-ˌsī-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē

\ noun

assignable \ ə-ˈsī-nə-bəl

\ adjective

assignor \ ə-ˈsī-nər

\ noun

assign

noun

Legal Definition of assign (Entry 2 of 2)

: assignee