computed; computing
: to determine especially by mathematical means
Compute the area of the triangle.
1
: to make calculation : reckon
They compute by weight in selling grain.
2
: to use a computer
3
informal
: to make sense
No matter how you do the math, it will not work … . It simply does not compute.—
Chuck Finder
Chuck FinderExamples of compute in a Sentence
for the test we were required to compute the answers without using a calculator
Recent Examples on the Web
The work drew on major detector upgrades, accelerator innovations, and computing power from Berkeley Lab’s NERSC facility and Brookhaven’s data centers.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2025
These include chip design firm Arm, high-performance computing company Applied Digital, cloud services company Nebius Group, and biotech company Recursion Pharmaceuticals.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2025
People want to compare CoreWeave , the AI cloud computing company, to these myriad buildout companies from the dot-com bubble.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2025
To check that, Lai and his colleagues computed the most optimal task allocations, schedules, and motions in a few simplified work cells and compared those with results delivered by RoboBallet.
—Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for compute
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Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2025
These include chip design firm Arm, high-performance computing company Applied Digital, cloud services company Nebius Group, and biotech company Recursion Pharmaceuticals.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2025
People want to compare CoreWeave , the AI cloud computing company, to these myriad buildout companies from the dot-com bubble.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2025
To check that, Lai and his colleagues computed the most optimal task allocations, schedules, and motions in a few simplified work cells and compared those with results delivered by RoboBallet.
—Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for compute
Cite this Entry
“Compute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compute. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
compute
verb
com·pute
kəm-ˈpyüt 
computed; computing
1
: to determine or calculate especially by mathematical means
also
: to determine or calculate by means of a computer
2
informal
: to make sense
computable
adjective
-ˈpyüt-ə-bəl
Etymology
from Latin computare "to count, compute" — related to account, count entry 1
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