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Webster 1913 Edition

Choose

Choose

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Chose
;
p. p.
Chosen
,
Chose
(Obs.);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Choosing
.]
[OE.
chesen
,
cheosen
, AS.
ceósan
; akin to OS.
kiosan
, D.
kiezen
, G.
kiesen
, Icel.
kjōsa
, Goth.
kiusan
, L.
gustare
to taste, Gr. [GREEK], Skr.
jush
to enjoy. √46. Cf.
Choice
, 2d
Gust
.]
1.
To make choice of; to select; to take by way of preference from two or more objects offered; to elect;
as, to
choose
the least of two evils
.
Choose
me for a humble friend.
Pope.
2.
To wish; to desire; to prefer.
[Colloq.]
The landlady now returned to know if we did not
choose
a more genteel apartment.
Goldsmith.
Syn. - To select; prefer; elect; adopt; follow.
– To
Choose
,
Prefer
,
Elect
. To choose is the generic term, and denotes to take or fix upon by an act of the will, especially in accordance with a decision of the judgment. To prefer is to choose or favor one thing as compared with, and more desirable than, another, or more in accordance with one’s tastes and feelings. To elect is to choose or select for some office, employment, use, privilege, etc., especially by the concurrent vote or voice of a sufficient number of electors. To choose a profession; to prefer private life to a public one; to elect members of Congress.

Choose

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To make a selection; to decide.
They had only to
choose
between implicit obedience and open rebellion.
Prescott.
2.
To do otherwise.
“Can I choose but smile?”
Pope.
Can not choose but
,
must necessarily.
Thou
canst not choose but
know who I am.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Choose

CHOOSE

, v.t.
1.
To pick out; to select; to take by way of preference from two or more things offered; to make choice of.
The man the Lord doth choose shall be holy. Num. 16.
2.
To take in preference.
Let us choose to us judgment. Job 34.
3.
To prefer; to choose for imitation; to follow.
Envy not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. Prov 3.
4.
To elect for eternal happiness; to predestinate to life.
Many are called but few chosen. Matt 20.
For his elects sake, whom he hath chosen. Mark 13.
5.
To elect or designate to office or employment by votes or suffrages. In the United States, the people choose representatives by votes, usually by ballot.

CHOOSE

, v.i.
1.
To prefer; as, I choose to go.
2.
To have the power of choice. The phrase, he cannot choose but stay, denotes that he has not the power of choice, whether to stay or not.
The verb, in these phrases, is really transitive; the following verb standing as the object, instead of a noun.

Definition 2024

choose

choose

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • enPR: cho͞oz, IPA(key): /tʃuːz/
  • Rhymes: -uːz
  • Homophone: chews

Verb

choose ‎(third-person singular simple present chooses, present participle choosing, simple past chose, past participle chosen)

  1. To pick; to make the choice of; to select.
    I chose a nice ripe apple from the fruit bowl.‎
    • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, The Bat, chapterI:
      The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.
  2. To elect.
    He was chosen as president in 1990.‎
  3. To decide to act in a certain way.
    I chose to walk to work today.‎
  4. To wish; to desire; to prefer.
    Choose truth, and find beauty. Choose love, and embrace change. ― Justin Deschamps‎
    • Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774)
      The landlady now returned to know if we did not choose a more genteel apartment.
Usage notes
  • This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Related terms
Translations

Conjunction

choose

  1. (mathematics) The binomial coefficient of the previous and following number.
    The number of distinct subsets of size k from a set of size n is or "n choose k".
See also

Etymology 2

From Middle English chose, chos, chooce, from Middle English chosen ‎(“to choose”). Cognate with Scots chose ‎(“choosing, choice, selection”).

Noun

choose ‎(plural chooses)

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) The act of choosing; selection.
  2. (dialectal or obsolete) The power, right, or privilege of choosing; election.
  3. (dialectal or obsolete) Scope for choice.

References

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English chosen, chesen, from Old English ċēosan ‎(“to choose, seek out, select, elect, decide, test, accept, settle for, approve”), from Proto-Germanic *keusaną ‎(“to taste, choose”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- ‎(“to taste, choose, enjoy”). Cognate with Scots chose, chese ‎(“to choose”), French choisir ‎(“to choose”), North Frisian kese ‎(“to choose”), West Frisian kieze ‎(“to choose”), Dutch kiezen ‎(“to choose”), Low German kesen ‎(“to choose”), archaic and partially obsolete German kiesen ‎(“to choose”), Danish kyse ‎(“to choose”), Norwegian kjose ‎(“to choose”), Swedish tjusa ‎(“to charm, allure”), Icelandic kjósa ‎(“to choose, vote, elect”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 ‎(kiusan, “to test”), Latin gustō ‎(“taste, sample”, verb).

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