relate to

phrasal verb

related to; relating to; relates to
1
: to connect (something) with (something else)
Few of the people who became sick related their symptoms to the food they'd eaten the day before.
2
: to understand and like or have sympathy for (someone or something)
I can relate to your feelings.
I've never been able to relate to him very well.
He writes songs that people can really relate to.
3
used to describe how someone talks to or behaves toward (someone else)
How a child relates to her teacher can affect her education.
4
: to be connected with (someone or something) : to be about (someone or something)
The readings relate to the class discussions.
often used as (be) related to
The exam questions are directly related to the readings.

Examples of relate to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Throughout their conversation, Lemon brought up questions related to Musk’s drug use, his affiliations with Donald Trump, advertisers pulling ads off X, hate speech on the app and other topics that the South African businessman appeared to deem troublesome. Tatiana Tenreyro, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Mar. 2024 The delays, in an interesting coincidence, are related to the ongoing Automated People Mover project, which aims to create a transit connection to relieve LAX traffic. Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2024 The challenge relates to the instructions that were given to jurors. Gene Maddaus, Variety, 18 Mar. 2024 Dog Refuses to Eat Kibble Until His Owners Use 'Gourmet' Cooking Techniques on His Food Others could relate to the video, describing their own pets’ similar eating habits. Erin Clements, Peoplemag, 17 Mar. 2024 The two First Amendment concerns relate to the ban, which is the second part of the legislation. ABC News, 17 Mar. 2024 And Meta is in the midst of paying a $725 million settlement related to the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal that affected some 87 million Facebook users (and which Chew referenced in his testimony last year). Catherine Thorbecke, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024 Jones added that the Butler County Sheriff's Office is working with the federal government to investigate if this case is related to human trafficking. The Enquirer, 7 Mar. 2024 The House bill was 60 pages long and included a myriad of policy issues related to transportation. Ana Ceballos, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'relate to.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near relate to

Cite this Entry

“Relate to.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relate%20to. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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