choose

verb

\ ˈchüz

chose\ ˈchōz

\; chosen\ ˈchō-zᵊn

\; choosing\ ˈchü-ziŋ

Definition of choose

transitive verb

1a : to select freely and after consideration choose a career

b : to decide on especially by vote : elect chose her as captain

2a : to have a preference for choose one car over another

b : decide chose to go by train

intransitive verb

1 : to make a selection finding it hard to choose

2 : to take an alternative —used after cannot and usually followed by but when earth is so kind, men cannot choose but be happy— J. A. Froude

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Choose the Right Synonym for choose

choose, elect, and select mean to decide upon one possibility from among several. choose is used for making a decision after careful thought. She chose to follow the right course. elect may be used for the deliberate picking of one thing over another. Voters elect one candidate for president. select is used when there are many things from which to choose. Customers may select from a variety of goods.

Examples of choose in a Sentence

Each year thousands of college students choose volunteer-service trips over beach bumming during their spring breaks and summer vacations. — Edward M. Kennedy, Time, 22 Sept. 2008 I had been invited to choose certain things that I might want from the house, but although there were indeed a couple of things that I would have liked, I was withheld from making the trip … — Alice Adams, "Why I Write," in The Story and Its Writer, edited by Ann Charters, 1987 … as an instructor at New York University he chose to live by himself in lodgings that for the time must have been very expensive … — William Styron, This Quiet Dust and Other Writings, (l953) 1982 Any summary I might try to write for the rest of the novel would be worthless and I don't choose to waste my time at it. — Flannery O'Connor, The Habit of Being, 1979 The political party chose a leader. They chose her as the team captain. We've chosen a different time to go. He was chosen because he's qualified for the job. She was chosen from a long list of people. He chose his words carefully. Which shirt would you choose? How do I choose when there's so much available? Let everyone choose for themselves. You can choose from among a number of alternatives.

Recent Examples on the Web

So Mika pushed through and chose an easy hike to ring in her 33rd birthday. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "Doctors Kept Calling It Stress. Then I Learned I Had a 98% Blockage in My Heart.," 7 Feb. 2019 After three terms as Vermont’s first female governor, and its first Jewish one, Kunin chose not to run again. — Celeste Katz, Glamour, "How did ‘likability’ become a thing for women in politics?," 18 Jan. 2019 Naturally, the panel of jurors who choose those finalists should be international, too. — Emily Farra, Vogue, "Delphine Arnault Reveals the 16 Industry Experts Joining the LVMH Prize Jury This Year," 25 Jan. 2019 They'd recently downsized, moving into a condo nearby, so the designers helped them choose which pieces from the big house would be making the move. — Emma Bazilian, House Beautiful, "Next Wave Duo Toledo Geller Shows How Moving Furniture Can Totally Transform A Room," 24 Jan. 2019 Of course, this was the look Pierpaolo Piccioli chose to close his show with and Campbell was the perfect icon to rock it. — Marina Liao, Marie Claire, "Naomi Campbell, Icon, Closed a Valentino Show in a Naked Dress," 23 Jan. 2019 No word yet on when Kylash launches, or if Jenner will choose to launch a mascara or false eyelashes first. — Jenna Rosenstein, Harper's BAZAAR, "It Looks Like Kylie Jenner is About to Drop a Kylie Cosmetics Mascara Called Kylash," 23 Jan. 2019 But if Harry and Meghan stick to tradition, the newborn will have five to eight godparents, and the people chosen will likely be a mix of old friends and relatives. — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Who Will Serve as Godparents to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Baby?," 21 Jan. 2019 The entire process—from choosing a kit to moving in—usually takes four to eight months. — Megan Barber, Curbed, "Affordable A-frame house can be built by just two people," 11 Jan. 2019

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