CONFER (conferred, conferring)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: conferred    , conferring   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does confer mean? 

• CONFER (verb)
  The verb CONFER has 2 senses:

1. have a conference in order to talk something over

2. present

  Familiarity information: CONFER used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONFER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they confer    ... he / she / it confers   
Past simple: conferred   
Past participle: conferred   
-ing form: conferring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have a conference in order to talk something over

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

confab; confabulate; confer; consult

Context example:

We conferred about a plan of action

Hypernyms (to "confer" is one way to...):

discuss; hash out; talk over (speak with others about (something); talk (something) over in detail; have a discussion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "confer"):

collogue (confer secretly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence examples:

Sam cannot confer Sue
Sam wants to confer with Sue

Derivation:

conferee (a member of a conference)

conference (a discussion among participants who have an agreed (serious) topic)

conference (a prearranged meeting for consultation or exchange of information or discussion (especially one with a formal agenda))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Present

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bestow; confer

Context example:

bestow an honor on someone

Hypernyms (to "confer" is one way to...):

award; present (give, especially as an honor or reward)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "confer"):

miter (confer a miter on (a bishop))

bless (confer prosperity or happiness on)

graduate (confer an academic degree upon)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something on somebody

Derivation:

conferee (a person on whom something is bestowed)

conferment; conferral (the act of conferring an honor or presenting a gift)

 Context examples 

Found in IAP (Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein) Family proteins, it seems to confer cell death-preventing activity.

(BIR Domain, NCI Thesaurus)

In most universities, the degree is conferred upon a student after four years of full-time study (120 credit hours) in one or more areas of business concentrations.

(Bachelor of Business Administration, NCI Thesaurus)

Inherited defects in the AKT1 gene that result in deficiency of its protein product confer susceptibility to schizophrenia.

(AKT1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Over expression confers breast cancer anti-estrogen resistance.

(Breast Cancer Anti-Estrogen Resistance 1 Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

IL-4 also appears to confer B cell resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis.

(Bystander B Cell Activation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Genetic polymorphisms are associated with the extent of malarial rosetting, and can confer protection against severe malaria.

(CR1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Heritable alterations in this gene also confer susceptibility to breast, colorectal and prostate cancers.

(CHEK2 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

The investigators concluded that IV BCG conferred an unprecedented degree of protection in an animal model of severe TB and “represents a major step forward in the field of TB vaccine research.”

(Changed route of immunization dramatically improves efficacy of TB vaccine, National Institutes of Health)

This independent tunability confers shape memories on the POPs via a phenomenon known as hysteresis, allowing them to return to their original shape after a temperature cue.

(Biomaterial Artificial Protein Helps Heal Tissue, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Mutant SETD1A is one of just a few rare genes known to unequivocally confer risk for schizophrenia.

(Schizophrenia risk gene linked to cognitive deficits in mice, National Institutes of Health)