custom

noun

cus·tom | \ ˈkə-stəm

Definition of custom

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a usage or practice common to many or to a particular place or class or habitual with an individual It is the custom in New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. funeral customs

b : long-established practice considered as unwritten law

c : repeated practice Custom makes all things easy.

d : the whole body of usages, practices, or conventions that regulate social life … family, kinship, and custom constituted the grounds of community.— V. B. Leitch

2 customs plural

a : duties, tolls, or imposts imposed by the sovereign law of a country on imports or exports

b usually singular in construction : the agency, establishment, or procedure for collecting such customs went through customs at the airport without any difficulty

3a : business patronage (see patronage sense 4)

b : usually habitual patrons : customers

custom

adjective

Definition of custom (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : made or performed according to personal order

2 : specializing in custom work or operation a custom tailor

Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about custom

Keep scrolling for more

Choose the Right Synonym for custom

Noun

habit, practice, usage, custom, wont mean a way of acting fixed through repetition. habit implies a doing unconsciously and often compulsively. had a habit of tapping his fingers practice suggests an act or method followed with regularity and usually through choice. our practice is to honor all major credit cards usage suggests a customary action so generally followed that it has become a social norm. western-style dress is now common usage in international business custom applies to a practice or usage so steadily associated with an individual or group as to have almost the force of unwritten law. the custom of wearing black at funerals wont usually applies to a habitual manner, method, or practice of an individual or group. as was her wont, she slept until noon

Examples of custom in a Sentence

Noun

It is the custom for the bride to wear a white dress on her wedding day. According to custom, the festivities begin at dusk. It's a matter of custom. We went through customs at the airport without any difficulty. It took us a long time to clear customs at the border.

Adjective

The new kitchen will have custom cabinets. that business tycoon wears only custom suits

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

San Antonion Charlie Rehfeld creates one-of-a-kind, custom stringed instruments made from cigar boxes. — Polly Anna Rocha, ExpressNews.com, "2019 Texas Folklife Festival keeps tradition lively," 6 June 2019 Lincoln recently honored the 1939 design, originally created as a custom car for Ford, with a 2019 limited-release Continental that echoes the models of the 1960s. — Emma Keith, Detroit Free Press, "Rare 1939 Lincoln prototype stars at EyesOn Design car show," 6 June 2019 Raffle tickets are available to win a custom Fender Telecaster guitar (modeled after a 1951 Fender broadcaster/telecaster) donated by Charles Carter of Guitar Restorations valued at $1,000. — baltimoresun.com, "International stars to headline first Havre de Grace Jazz and Blues Fest this weekend," 5 June 2019 Outfits are prepped months in advance, dresses are custom designed, and grand entrances are planned. — Glamour, "Every Drugstore Steal Celebrities Wore to the 2019 Met Gala," 7 May 2019 Kendall Jenner made quite the entrance tonight at the annual gala in what looked like a custom Giambattista Valli gown. — Chrissy Rutherford, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kendall Jenner Debuts H&M x Giambattista Valli Collab at Cannes," 23 May 2019 Japan in Space The models will be custom built and made out of a protective resin to help them withstand the pressures of space. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Japan Is Sending Gundams to Space for the 2020 Olympics," 16 May 2019 The custom exhaust dates to early 2019, and an ECUMaster digital engine tuner helps to dial in performance. Clocked on a dyno, the mods conspire to produce 476 horsepower and more than 600 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. — Andrew Wendler, Car and Driver, "1988 Chevrolet Corvette C4 Callaway Twin-Turbo Four-Speed Is a High-Performance Love Letter from the '80s," 15 May 2019 Miley was dressed in a custom Yves Saint Laurent dress, which extended to the floor. — Lauren Rearick, Teen Vogue, "Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth Wore Coordinating Outfits to the “Avengers: Endgame” Premiere," 23 Apr. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Allowing brides-to-be the opportunity to more accurately customize their gowns from size 0-24, without the price tag of a completely custom wedding dress. — Heather Hall, Harper's BAZAAR, "From Bridal Salons to Custom Gowns, Here's Where Size Inclusivity Stands in the Bridal Industry," 19 Apr. 2019 But the spokeswoman said Facebook doesn’t use custom events—the ones that can contain sensitive information—for those purposes. — Sam Schechner, WSJ, "You Give Apps Sensitive Personal Information. Then They Tell Facebook.," 22 Feb. 2019 It's all done on custom silicon designed within Apple—a different approach than that taken by any mainstream Android or Windows device. — Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, "Apple walks Ars through the iPad Pro’s A12X system on a chip," 7 Nov. 2018 The drawer fronts of the SEKTION kitchen range can be combined in nine different ways to create a completely custom style. — Jessica Dailey, Good Housekeeping, "Doors and Drawers," 11 Feb. 2019 Currently that cost is extraordinary, MIT writes, due to inexperience, extremely custom plant designs, regulatory issues, and financing issues. — Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, "Mapping what it would take for a renaissance for nuclear energy," 7 Sep. 2018 To facilitate their research, biologists regularly order short, custom pieces of DNA from companies that specialize in their manufacture. — R. Daniel Bressler, Vox, "“Designer bugs”: how the next pandemic might come from a lab," 6 Dec. 2018 In the backyard, Arne Jacobsen wicker chairs from Sika Design and a side table from JF Chen; custom fireplace screen, Studio Forge. — Jenni Konner, ELLE Decor, "Jewelry Designer Irene Neuwirth Takes Us Inside Her Eclectic Los Angeles Home," 13 July 2018 AUTO Show off your classic, antique or custom car at On the Edge Bar and Grill, 6815 W. Edgerton Ave. — Hannah Kirby, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "21 Things-to-do in the southwest suburbs in July," 29 June 2018

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about custom

Dictionary Entries near custom

Statistics for custom

Last Updated

11 Jun 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for custom

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

See more words from the same century

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for custom

custom

noun

English Language Learners Definition of custom

(Entry 1 of 2)

: an action or way of behaving that is usual and traditional among the people in a particular group or place

: something that is done regularly by a person

: taxes or fees that are paid to the government when goods come into or go out of a country

custom

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of custom (Entry 2 of 2)

chiefly US

: made to fit the needs or requirements of a particular person

: doing work that fits the needs or requirements of a particular person

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

custom

noun

cus·tom | \ ˈkə-stəm

Kids Definition of custom

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : the usual way of doing things : the usual practice

2 customs plural : duties or taxes paid on imports or exports

3 : support given to a business by its customers Buyers grew tired of waiting … and … took their custom elsewhere.— Linda Sue Park, A Single Shard

custom

adjective

Kids Definition of custom (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : made or done to personal order custom furniture

2 : specializing in work done to personal order a custom printer

custom

noun

cus·tom

Legal Definition of custom

1 : a practice common to many or to a particular place or institution especially : a long-established practice that is generally recognized as having the force of law — see also section 1983 — compare usage

2 plural

a : duties, tolls, or imposts imposed by the law of a country on imports or exports

b usually singular in construction : the agency, establishment, or procedure for collecting such customs