SINCE 1828
predicate
noun
pred·i·cate
| \ ˈpre-di-kət
\
\
Definition of predicate
(Entry 1 of 3)
1a
: something that is affirmed or denied of the subject in a proposition in logic
b
: a term designating a property or relation
2
: the part of a sentence or clause that expresses what is said of the subject and that usually consists of a verb with or without objects, complements, or adverbial modifiers
predicate
verb
pred·i·cate
| \ ˈpre-də-ˌkāt
\
\
predicated;
predicating
Definition of predicate (Entry 2 of 3)
2a
: to assert to be a quality, attribute, or property
—used with following of predicates intelligence of humans
b
: to make (a term) the predicate in a proposition
4
: imply
predicate
adjective
pred·i·cate
| \ ˈpre-di-kət
\
\
Definition of predicate (Entry 3 of 3)
: completing the meaning of a copula
predicate adjective predicate noun
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Other Words from predicate
Noun
predicative
\ ˈpre-di-kə-tiv ,
-ˌkā-
\
adjective
-ˌkā-
\
adjective
predicatively
adverb
Examples of predicate in a Sentence
Noun
In the sentence “The child threw the ball,” the subject is “the child” and the predicate is “threw the ball.”Verb
she has predicated her theory on recent findings by other astronomersAdjective
In “the sun is hot,” “hot” is a predicate adjective.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Thus, there is no predicate of criminal behavior necessary to begin such a review. — Murray Waas, Vox, "Exclusive: Trump loyalist Matthew Whitaker was counseling the White House on investigating Clinton," 9 Nov. 2018 The Nunes memo that alleged a political and abusive predicate for the Russia probe wasn't exactly embraced by Republicans, but it's contributed to Trump's narrative. — Aaron Blake, Washington Post, "Trey Gowdy’s total rebuke of Trump’s ‘spying’ narrative — and the pattern it fits," 30 May 2018 The cheerleaders’ legal claims The factual assertions detailed above serve as predicates for the specific legal claims levied against the Texans. — Michael Mccann, SI.com, "NFL Teams Previously Have Settled in Cheerleader Lawsuits. Will Texans' Ex-Cheerleaders Set Different Precedent?," 25 June 2018 But in drawing these lines, analysts said, Mr. Giuliani may be signaling to Mr. Mueller the outer boundaries of the president’s tolerance or even laying a predicate for later firing the special counsel. — Peter Baker, New York Times, "Trump Team’s Mueller Strategy: Limit the Investigation and Attack the Investigators," 21 May 2018 Xie’s swallowed commands, shorn of their predicates, suggest that the rules of her art cannot be codified. — Ben Taub, The New Yorker, "Jenny Xie Writes a Sightseer’s Guide to the Self," 30 Apr. 2018 Despite this, some Republicans have suggested that the Steele dossier was a predicate for the investigation — a suggestion aimed at undermining the broader Russia probe that is currently imperiling the White House. — Aaron Blake, Washington Post, "The White House's broken promise on the Democratic memo," 10 Feb. 2018 This was the predicate for his recusal from the Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation. — Philip Bump, Washington Post, "A complete timeline of the events behind the memo that threatens to rip D.C. in two," 2 Feb. 2018 More than 200 federal crimes can be legal predicates for money laundering Byrne added in a Monday interview. — USA TODAY, "Follow the money: Here's how money laundering works," 30 Oct. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Analysts are currently penciling in modest growth in profits next year, but the consensus forecast is predicated on an improvement in sales. — Stephen Wilmot, WSJ, "H&M May Never Catch Up," 23 Aug. 2018 The Warriors became a team that could become a dynasty when Kerr installed a beautiful offense predicated on the idea that basketball is an egalitarian sport. — Ben Cohen, WSJ, "The Warriors and Rockets Are Not Who You Think," 13 May 2018 First, it is predicated on a revenue proposal that lacked analysis from the Office of State Budget Director to determine its true revenue impact. — Morgan Watkins, The Courier-Journal, "Here's Gov. Bevin's reasoning for vetoes of the budget and tax reform bills -- in his own words," 9 Apr. 2018 And even the estimated billions Apple gets from Google every year in licensing payments are predicated on the belief that Apple’s device users are valuable enough to justify buying that access. — Dan Gallagher, WSJ, "Apple: Still a Hardware Company," 4 Nov. 2018 After all of that has been confirmed and your information has been submitted via the FAFSA, your eligibility to receive aid will be predicated on a determination of your need. — Lincoln Anthony Blades, Teen Vogue, "What to Know About Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)," 1 Oct. 2018 Our whole model is predicated on trying new things, right? — Eric Johnson, Recode, "Wearables pioneer Jawbone is back with a new mission: Warning you about health problems you didn’t know you had," 26 Sep. 2018 Slime is basically just a gooey fidget toy, and its stardom is predicated on people filming themselves playing with it. — Kaitlyn Tiffany, Vox, "Jell-O is finally capitalizing on the Instagram slime trend," 15 Nov. 2018 Ron Stelmarski, the project’s lead designer, says much of the design was predicated on deliberate, holistic strategies to help the health of an individual. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "How urban planners can promote health and wellness," 25 July 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
So that predicate for the Mueller investigation is now very weak. — Fox News, "How can the US assess North Korea's nuclear arsenal?," 17 June 2018 Again, not the identity of the informant, but the predicate documents, the FBI's 302's and the 1023's that will answer the question of whether or not there was an appropriate purpose behind this as opposed to an inappropriate political purpose. — Fox News, "VP Mike Pence on Russia probe, alleged campaign surveillance," 22 May 2018 The next rooms contained stacks of documents and books, along with predicate-logic equations scrawled on the walls. — Nimrod Nir, Newsweek, "Welcome to Pyramiden, a Mysterious Soviet Ghost Town, Where I Was Imprisoned by Nature—and My Poor Judgment," 14 Feb. 2018 Victims often dismiss other abusive tactics, such as a husband forbidding his wife from seeing her family or friends, that predicate any physical violence. — Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News, "Rob Porter allegations detail common traits of domestic abuse, experts say," 9 Feb. 2018 The predicate belief of the Trump administration is that fomenting disruption and chaos be done on the grandest scale. — Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Magazine, "Was Trump’s Pardon of Joe Arpaio Unconstitutional?," 15 Sep. 2017 A predicate crime wasn’t required in order to ruin Scooter Libby’s career or send septuagenarian Joe Bonanno to prison. — Carl M. Cannon, Orange County Register, "Trump-Russia: Cover-up worse than the crime?," 18 June 2017 Indiana’s 21st Century Scholar and Frank O’Brian Grant, both approved by the Indiana General Assembly in 2013, also predicate funding on earning 30 credits. — Lisa Ward, WSJ, "The High Price of Not Completing College in Four Years," 8 June 2017 Currently, the FDA’s rules have a predicate date giving it authority over all vaping products introduced since Feb. 15, 2007, or virtually all vaping products on the market. — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "'Vaping Congressman' introduces bill to ease FDA's e-cigarette restrictions," 29 Apr. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'predicate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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8 Grammar Terms You Used to Know, But...
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Dictionary Entries near predicate
Statistics for predicate
Last Updated
22 Nov 2018
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for predicate
The first known use of predicate was in the 15th century
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More Definitions for predicate
predicate
noun
English Language Learners Definition of predicate
(Entry 1 of 3)
grammar : the part of a sentence that expresses what is said about the subject
predicate
verb
English Language Learners Definition of predicate (Entry 2 of 3)
: to base (something) on or upon something else
predicate
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of predicate (Entry 3 of 3)
grammar : used after a linking verb to describe a noun that comes before the verb
See the full definition for predicate in the English Language Learners Dictionary
predicate
noun
pred·i·cate
| \ ˈpre-di-kət
\
\
Kids Definition of predicate
(Entry 1 of 2)
: the part of a sentence or clause that tells what is said about the subject
“Rang” in “the doorbell rang” is the predicate.
predicate
adjectiveKids Definition of predicate (Entry 2 of 2)
: completing the meaning of a linking verb
“Sweet” in “the sugar is sweet” is a predicate adjective.
predicate
transitive verb
pred·i·cate
| \ ˈpre-də-ˌkāt
\
\
predicated;
predicating
Legal Definition of predicate
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to set or ground on something : find a basis for
—usually used with on
Jurisdiction over the lawsuit was predicated on the California contacts — Daimler AG v. Bauman, 571 U.S. ___ (2014)
predicate
adjective
pred·i·cate
| \ ˈpre-di-kət
\
\
Legal Definition of predicate (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: occurring prior to and providing the basis or part of the basis for a conviction for another offense (as a RICO offense)
predicate acts
2
: occurring prior to and providing the basis for sentence enhancement upon conviction for a later offense
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