ELECT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does elect mean? 

• ELECT (noun)
  The noun ELECT has 1 sense:

1. an exclusive group of people

  Familiarity information: ELECT used as a noun is very rare.

• ELECT (adjective)
  The adjective ELECT has 2 senses:

1. selected as the best

2. elected but not yet installed in office

  Familiarity information: ELECT used as an adjective is rare.

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

1. select by a vote for an office or membership

2. choose

  Familiarity information: ELECT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ELECT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An exclusive group of people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

chosen; elect

Context example:

one of the elect who have power inside the government

Hypernyms ("elect" is a kind of...):

elite; elite group (a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status)

Derivation:

elect (select by a vote for an office or membership)

elect (selected as the best)

• ELECT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Selected as the best

Synonyms:

elect; elite

Context example:

elite colleges

Similar:

selected (chosen in preference to another)

Derivation:

elect (an exclusive group of people)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Elected but not yet installed in office

Context example:

the president elect

Similar:

incoming (arriving at a place or position)

• ELECT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they elect    ... he / she / it elects   
Past simple: elected   
Past participle: elected   
-ing form: electing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Select by a vote for an office or membership

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

We elected him chairman of the board

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

choose; pick out; select; take (pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives)

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

co-opt (choose or elect as a fellow member or colleague)

reelect; return (elect again)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They elect him as chairman

Derivation:

elect (an exclusive group of people)

election (a vote to select the winner of a position or political office)

elective (subject to popular election)

elector (a citizen who has a legal right to vote)

electorate (the body of enfranchised citizens; those qualified to vote)

eligible (qualified for or allowed or worthy of being chosen)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Choose

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

I elected to have my funds deposited automatically

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

choose; pick out; select; take (pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

elective (not compulsory)

 Context examples 

For his task he elected a vengeance on the shark.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She had elected to deal with Dennin in her way, and so he left the whole matter in her hands.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

For a year, researchers followed the eligible patients, all of whom had low cardiovascular risk, and compared them to those who elected not to receive biologic therapy.

(Study links psoriasis treatment and improvement in heart artery disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Because of this new feeling within him, he ofttimes elected discomfort and pain for the sake of his god.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

A person appointed or elected to represent others.

(Delegate, NCI Thesaurus)

But my choice and constant companions should be a set of my own immortal brotherhood; among whom, I would elect a dozen from the most ancient, down to my own contemporaries.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Know, that in the course of your future life you will often find yourself elected the involuntary confidant of your acquaintances' secrets: people will instinctively find out, as I have done, that it is not your forte to tell of yourself, but to listen while others talk of themselves; they will feel, too, that you listen with no malevolent scorn of their indiscretion, but with a kind of innate sympathy; not the less comforting and encouraging because it is very unobtrusive in its manifestations.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Also, Uranus may be visiting your financial solar second house, but Uranus rules your solar eleventh house of friendship, charities, and other clubs, including political ones. (In the latter case, if you volunteer to help a candidate become elected, this is covered by the eleventh house, too.)

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

She began almost to feel a dislike of Edward; and it ended, as every feeling must end with her, by carrying back her thoughts to Willoughby, whose manners formed a contrast sufficiently striking to those of his brother elect.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Then I move, said Professor Challenger, that both these gentlemen be elected, as representatives of this meeting, to accompany Professor Summerlee upon his journey to investigate and to report upon the truth of my statements.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)