Definition of eligible
1a : qualified to participate or be chosen eligible to retireb : permitted under football rules to catch a forward pass
2 : worthy of being chosen an eligible young bachelor
eligible
nounIndulge Your Inner Word Nerd
Examples of eligible in a Sentence
… more than six years since the fall of the Taliban, fewer than 30% of eligible girls are enrolled in schools, and the infrastructure is so poor that only a tiny fraction are likely to get the education they need to enjoy the fruits of emancipation. —Aryn Baker, Time, 28 Jan. 2008
She wanted to start her own family. She was twenty-six and without prospects. At church her mother prayed, and at Crystal Nail, where she lacquered and lengthened, her mother asked customers about eligible young men. She kept Li En's graduation photo mounted in the right corner of her mirror, so that every customer would see her daughter, diploma in hand. —Max Apple, Atlantic, November 2003
I'd like to join but I'm not eligible yet.
Recent Examples of eligible from the Web
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Turnout was 92 percent of the more than 340,000 eligible voters, the electoral commission said.
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It's been just over a decade since the NBA and the players union agreed on a rule in that says players either need to be 19 years old or be one year removed from high school before being eligible for the draft.
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Under the Property Tax Postponement Program, the state government pays local property taxes for eligible homeowners — who agree to pay the money back.
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That’s much lower than the average election-to-election increase in the minority share of eligible and actual voters—about 2 percentage points each in recent elections.
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The Supreme Court will decide whether Ohio wrongfully purged eligible voters from the state’s registration list.
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That number is likely to rise sharply as doctors begin using it earlier on eligible patients.
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The House bill, starting in 2020, would sharply reduce federal payments to states to cover those who became eligible for Medicaid as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
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LaHood said Jones is not eligible for the death penalty because Texas did not have such a sentence at the time of the 1981 death.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'eligible'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of eligible
Middle English, from Late Latin eligibilis, from Latin eligere to choose — more at elect
First Known Use: 15th century
ELIGIBLE Defined for English Language Learners
eligible
playDefinition of eligible for English Language Learners
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: able to be chosen for something : able to do or receive something
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: suitable and desirable for marriage
ELIGIBLE Defined for Kids
eligible
playDefinition of eligible for Students
: qualified to be chosen, to participate, or to receive You're eligible for a loan.
Learn More about eligible
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Spanish Central: Translation of eligible Nglish: Translation of eligible for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of eligible for Arabic speakers
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