destine

des·tine | \ ˈde-stən

How to pronounce destine (audio)

\

destined; destining

Definition of destine

transitive verb

1 : to decree beforehand : predetermine was not destined to attain the throne

2a : to designate, assign, or dedicate in advance believed their son was destined for the priesthood destined to succeed a flaw that destines them to fail

b : to direct, devise, or set apart for a specific purpose or place freight destined for European ports

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Examples of destine in a Sentence

his extreme height seemed to destine him for a career in basketball

Recent Examples on the Web The World Bank has estimated 80% of imports into Benin are destined for Nigeria. — Landry Signé, Quartz Africa, "Nigeria’s Benin border closure is an early warning sign for the African free trade deal’s optimism," 2 Nov. 2019 Through the investigation, investigators learned that the marijuana and BHO extract were destined for Ohio, where the musician is originally from. — Fox News, "Walls of Jericho drummer arrested with over 630 pounds of marijuana," 30 Oct. 2019 In other words, report card grades are still strongly correlated with family income levels, but high-poverty schools aren't destined for low report card grades, as shown by the progress over just the past three years. — al, "Here are six takeaways from Alabama’s school report cards," 29 Oct. 2019 Waters knew instinctively in that moment that his friend was destined for big things, even if Little didn’t realize it at the time. — Jamie Goldberg, oregonlive, "‘It’s all for Tommy’: As Nassir Little begins NBA journey with Portland Trail Blazers, a fallen friend is a constant inspiration," 11 Oct. 2019 Once destined only for a veggie tray, cauliflower and dishes made with or infused with the cruciferous vegetable have exploded over the last few years. — Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, "Cauliflower power: 6 places with hot cauliflower dishes," 2 Oct. 2019 At that time white grapes made up the majority of the region’s plantings, but most of those were destined for distillation or simple plonk. — Fortune, "White Bordeaux Wines Are Picking Up Steam. Here’s What You Should Know," 22 Sep. 2019 Off-limits: Phoenix, Arizona — A decade before the day that would change his life, a 20-year-old Manny boarded a Greyhound bus in downtown Phoenix destined for Fort Ord near Monterey, California, with three of his Tolleson Union High School buddies. — Jessica Boehm, azcentral, "A beat cop, a fateful shooting and the moments that shaped Phoenix's history," 17 July 2019 Resurrection began in 2003 with plans for a smaller mission with a U.K.-built all-sky x-ray monitor and MPE’s x-ray survey telescope, called ROSITA—which had been destined for the ISS but was grounded by the Challenger space shuttle disaster. — Daniel Clery, Science | AAAS, "Update: Telescope designed to study mysterious dark energy keeps Russia’s space science hopes alive," 15 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'destine.' 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 destine

destined to become a classic

Statistics for destine

Last Updated

19 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for destine

The first known use of destine was in the 14th century

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WORD OF THE DAY

recondite

concealed or difficult to comprehend

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