generate

verb

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gen·er·ate | \ ˈje-nə-ˌrāt

generated; generating

Definition of generate

transitive verb

1 : to bring into existence: such as

a : procreate, beget

b : to originate by a vital, chemical, or physical process : produce generate electricity

2 : to be the cause of (a situation, action, or state of mind) these stories … generate a good deal of psychological suspense — Atlantic

3 : to define or originate (something, such as a mathematical or linguistic set or structure) by the application of one or more rules or operations especially : to trace out (something, such as a curve) by a moving point or to trace out (a surface) by a moving curve

Synonyms More Example Sentences Phrases Containing generate Learn More About generate

Examples of generate in a Sentence

windmills used to generate electricity This business should generate a lot of revenue. We hope to generate some new ideas at the meeting. His theories have generated a great deal of interest among other scientists. Her comments have generated a good deal of excitement. They have been unable to generate much support for their proposals. See More

Recent Examples on the Web Lake Powell, on the Utah-Arizona border, is forecast to decline more than 30 feet by March, putting the water level about 16 feet from the point at which Glen Canyon Dam would no longer generate electricity. — Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2022 Cell Metabolism suggested that excessive exercise impaired the functioning of mitochondria, the cell structures that use oxygen to generate energy. — Betsy Morris, WSJ, 19 June 2022 Anyone can use OpenAI’s latest language model, GPT-3, to generate stories, articles, and poetry based on simple descriptions. — Nicolás Rivero, Quartz, 10 June 2022 More critically for this work, NICER can detect the distortion of space-time around large neutron stars and use that to generate a reasonably accurate estimate of its size. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 8 June 2022 In fact, in the US, nearly all the gains in emissions reductions over the past 15 years have been due to the growing use of natural gas to generate electricity in place of coal. — Ralph Izzo For Cnn Business Perspectives, CNN, 7 June 2022 Armed with this information, along with financial and pricing data, and more, analysts use machine learning algorithms to generate as many as 24 different enrollment models. — Brennan Barnard, Forbes, 6 June 2022 Unlike most of the country, Hawaii burns a lot of oil to generate electricity — a common approach on islands because the fuel is easier and cheaper to ship than natural gas. — Ivan Penn, BostonGlobe.com, 30 May 2022 Unlike most of the country, Hawaii burns a lot of oil to generate electricity — a common approach on islands because the fuel is easier and cheaper to ship than natural gas. — New York Times, 30 May 2022 See More

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