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 \ -ˌsī-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē

\ noun

assignable \ -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

The Trump policy reverses an Obama administration rule that would have opened the military to transgender men and women and instead bars those who identify with a gender different from the one assigned at birth and are seeking to transition. — Dan Lamothe, The Seattle Times, "Supreme Court lets Trump’s restrictions on transgender troops take effect," 22 Jan. 2019 They have been quarantined and assigned their own nurse. — Anna Werner, CBS News, "New video of Thai cave rescue shows just how close divers came to disaster," 11 July 2018 State security assigned guards around-the-clock outside Liu's Beijing home and restricted her access to the internet and the outside world, allowing her only occasional phone calls with a small circle of friends. — NBC News, "Liu Xia, widow of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, leaves China," 10 July 2018 As of the end of June the program was full, with 250 people assigned to case managers and 15 installed in permanent housing. — Cynthia Hubert, sacbee, "This man cost Sacramento County more in one year than any other homeless person," 8 July 2018 Later this month, the company goes a step further, testing a beta program called Sleep Score, which will assign a nightly number grade. — Laura Regensdorf, Vogue, "How to Get a Better Night’s Sleep—And Why It Should Be Your Top Priority (Really)," 1 Nov. 2018 The committee will hear from the parent who filed the complaint, the teacher who assigned the material, and any other experts on the subject. — Breanna Edwards, The Root, "South Carolina Police Union Whines About Police Brutality Novel The Hate U Give Being on A School's Summer Reading List," 4 July 2018 The Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Board of Education on Monday voted unanimously to create a committee to craft a pilot school resource officer program that would assign officers to Lincoln and Emerson middle schools. — Heather Cherone, chicagotribune.com, "'The board needs to get out of the swamp': District 64 board creates committee to craft resource officer program," 26 June 2018 Completing random contracts, like raising your income over a certain threshold, boosts your reputation with the departments that assigned those contracts. — Steven Strom, Ars Technica, "Jurassic World Evolution," 19 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

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

7 Feb 2019

Look-up Popularity

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