orientate
verb
Lancaster New Era
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Orientate is a synonym of orient. Both can mean "to cause to face toward the east." The proper noun Orient refers to "the East." The verbs, however, have broader meanings that relate to setting or determining direction or position, either literally or figuratively. Orientate tends to be used more often in British English than it is in American English.
Synonyms
Examples of orientate in a Sentence
Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 19 July 2023
The tablet can also be mounted on a standard VESA mount arm, and Xencelabs said a multi-axis stand that can freely orientate the tablet vertically or horizontally will be available to purchase separately (though no price or release date has been mentioned).
—Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 24 Mar. 2023
Some birds can sense the Earth’s magnetic field and orientate themselves with the ease of a compass needle.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 8 July 2010
Even on clear moonless nights, many beetles still manage to orientate along straight paths.
—Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 2 Apr. 2013
In a planetarium, the beetles orientate equally well when rolling under a full starlit sky as when only the Milky Way is present.
—Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 2 Apr. 2013
The first thing to look for is what’s called the square of Pegasus, although this time of year the square is orientated diagonally in the sky, so look for a giant diamond of four stars about halfway up in the east-southeastern sky.
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 20 Oct. 2019
To many, the discussion was long overdue in male orientated South Korea, which ranks well below the global average on the 2018 Global Gender Gap report, with major disparities in terms of wage equality and earned income for women.
—Jake Kwon, CNN, 21 Sep. 2019
Tumblr has been noted for having a permissive attitude towards NSFW and adult-orientated content on its service, which has previously caused it to be briefly banned in Indonesia.
—Jon Porter, The Verge, 20 Nov. 2018
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'orientate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
1848, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense
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Dictionary Entries Near orientate
Cite this Entry
“Orientate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orientate. Accessed 2 Oct. 2023.
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