as in borrows
to take for one's own use (something originated by another)
shortly after moving to the U.S., the family dutifully adopted the American tradition of having turkey for Thanksgiving
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Recent Examples of adopts
Her decision to team up with Hayley, an assistant at Tender, in the scheme to secretly videotape johns as future blackmail material, after it had been done to her and Henry, is another instance in which Yasmin adopts the tools used to hurt her to injure others.
—
Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
In 2014, political scientists Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page observed that the public has little influence over the policies our government adopts as policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 1 Mar. 2026
Senate Bill 1 not only adopts the most stringent allowable aspects of the new federal law, known as HR 1.
—Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 26 Feb. 2026
The proposal, approved on first reading on Tuesday night, would be implemented as soon as the end of March if the City Council adopts it on final reading, a vote that appears likely, given the lack of opposition now that Calvo holds the mayor’s office and has consensus support on the council.
—Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 25 Feb. 2026
Lack of fiber is a major reason the microbiome adopts a configuration associated with poor aging.
—Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 18 Feb. 2026
Their Eyes adopts the documentary mode and is narrated entirely by crowdworkers—specifically, annotators contracted to segment and label images to create training data for self-driving cars.
—Farren Fei Yuan, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
Morina’s direct style — following Shaban and Hatixhe closely, highlighting the physicality of their labor — adopts the matter-of-fact attitude of his protagonists.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2026
Expanding upon his 2022 Sundance Short Film Jury Award-winning short by the same name, writer-director Walter Thompson-Hernández adopts a painter’s eye towards the local Watts community.
—Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 29 Jan. 2026
Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
In 2014, political scientists Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page observed that the public has little influence over the policies our government adopts as policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 1 Mar. 2026
Senate Bill 1 not only adopts the most stringent allowable aspects of the new federal law, known as HR 1.
—Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 26 Feb. 2026
The proposal, approved on first reading on Tuesday night, would be implemented as soon as the end of March if the City Council adopts it on final reading, a vote that appears likely, given the lack of opposition now that Calvo holds the mayor’s office and has consensus support on the council.
—Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 25 Feb. 2026
Lack of fiber is a major reason the microbiome adopts a configuration associated with poor aging.
—Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 18 Feb. 2026
Their Eyes adopts the documentary mode and is narrated entirely by crowdworkers—specifically, annotators contracted to segment and label images to create training data for self-driving cars.
—Farren Fei Yuan, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
Morina’s direct style — following Shaban and Hatixhe closely, highlighting the physicality of their labor — adopts the matter-of-fact attitude of his protagonists.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2026
Expanding upon his 2022 Sundance Short Film Jury Award-winning short by the same name, writer-director Walter Thompson-Hernández adopts a painter’s eye towards the local Watts community.
—Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 29 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adopts
Verb
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What is the truth, what is the lie, and how photography historically borrows the sense of truth and reality in order to tell lies, in order to seduce people to do things.—
Caterina De Biasio,
Vogue,
23 Feb. 2026
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Virtually all of Kin borrows its distortion and unstable vibrations, making the new record a far less soothing listen than its predecessor.—
Philip Sherburne,
Pitchfork,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Brown embraces political outsider status Brown, 47, who also serves as Matteson village clerk, said she was propelled into politics when her son contracted an environmental illness tied to water quality that nearly took his life.—
Jake Sheridan,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Mar. 2026
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That's the idea behind the Tecno Atom Moda Edition, a phone that embraces magnetic modularity.—
Eric Zeman,
PC Magazine,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Adopts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adopts. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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