ESTABLISH

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does establish mean? 

• ESTABLISH (verb)
  The verb ESTABLISH has 8 senses:

1. set up or found

2. set up or lay the groundwork for

3. establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment

4. institute, enact, or establish

5. bring about

6. place

7. build or establish something abstract

8. use as a basis for; found on

  Familiarity information: ESTABLISH used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ESTABLISH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they establish    ... he / she / it establishes   
Past simple: established   
Past participle: established   
-ing form: establishing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Set up or found

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

establish; found; launch; set up

Context example:

She set up a literacy program

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

open; open up (start to operate or function or cause to start operating or functioning)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

abolish (do away with)

Derivation:

establishment (the act of forming or establishing something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Set up or lay the groundwork for

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

constitute; establish; found; institute; plant

Context example:

establish a new department

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

initiate; pioneer (take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of)

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

fix (set or place definitely)

appoint; constitute; name; nominate (create and charge with a task or function)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

establishment (the act of forming or establishing something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

demonstrate; establish; prove; shew; show

Context example:

The mathematician showed the validity of the conjecture

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

affirm; confirm; corroborate; substantiate; support; sustain (establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts)

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

prove oneself (show one's ability or courage)

prove (prove formally; demonstrate by a mathematical, formal proof)

contradict; negate (prove negative; show to be false)

stultify (prove to be of unsound mind or demonstrate someone's incompetence)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

establishment (the cognitive process of establishing a valid proof)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Institute, enact, or establish

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

establish; lay down; make

Context example:

make laws

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

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

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

mark; set (establish as the highest level or best performance)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 5

Meaning:

Bring about

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

establish; give

Context example:

The trompe l'oeil-illusion establishes depth

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

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Verb group:

generate; give; render; return; yield (give or supply)

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

introduce (bring in or establish in a new place or environment)

pacify (fight violence and try to establish peace in (a location))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Place

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

establish; instal; install; set up

Context example:

Her manager had set her up at the Ritz

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Build or establish something abstract

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

build; establish

Context example:

build a reputation

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

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Use as a basis for; found on

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

base; establish; found; ground

Context example:

base a claim on some observation

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

build (found or ground)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

 Context examples 

This day sparkles if you have someone special in your life, such as a spouse or steady, established partner.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Since the border was established in 1982, wood-gathering and grazing have ceased on the Israeli side.

(Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years, NSF)

Since this is the first object of its type ever discovered, rules for naming this type of object will need to be established by the International Astronomical Union.

(Small Asteroid or Comet 'Visits' from Beyond the Solar System, NASA)

This new research shows, however, that oxygen also suppresses the anticancer activity of T cells, thereby permitting cancer cells that have spread to the lungs to escape immune attack and establish metastatic colonies.

(Oxygen can impair cancer immunotherapy in mice, NIH)

"Only later, after its orbital tilt was established, could Naiad settle into this unusual resonance with Thalassa."

(NASA Finds Neptune Moons Locked in 'Dance of Avoidance', NASA)

Hiccups begin in the womb at just nine weeks gestational age, making them one of the earliest established patterns of activity.

(Baby Hiccups Key to Brain Development, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

"This may prove to be one of the factors that influences the amount and duration of a vaccine response, although right now we have only established a correlation, and not cause and effect."

(Gut Bacteria from Breastfeeding Linked to Improved Infant Response to Vaccines, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Furthermore, combining both AI-found features and the human-established criteria predicted the recurrence more accurately than using either method alone (AUC=0.842).

(Artificial Intelligence Identifies Features Associated with Cancer Recurrence, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Methodology used by the FDA to establish what is or isn't 'safe' has been subject to scrutiny from a number of scientists.

(Humans exposed to far more hormone-disrupting chemicals than thought, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The Rensselaer researchers not only established why that instability was happening, but also developed a way to combat it.

(Creating Better Lithium-Ion Batteries Made Possible with New Discovery, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)