adopt

verb

1. 1

   To take (a child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.) by choice into a relationship. To take voluntarily (a child of other parents) to be in the place of, or as, one's own child.

   A friend of mine recently adopted a Chinese baby girl found on the streets of Beijing.

2. 2

   To take (a child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.) by choice into a relationship. To obtain (a pet) from a shelter or the wild.

   We're going to adopt a Dalmatian.

3. 3

   To take (a child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.) by choice into a relationship. To contribute towards the upkeep of (a child or animal), in exchange for occasional stories, pictures, etc.

   We adopted an elephant at the local zoo.

4. 4

   To take (a child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.) by choice into a relationship. To take by choice into the scope of one's responsibility.

   This supermarket chain adopts several families every Yuletide, providing them with money and groceries for the holidays.

   Sixteen years ago, the station entered into a new chapter when it was adopted by the Friends of Chirk Station (FoCS) volunteer group, under the Arriva Trains Wales Station Adopters programme.

5. 5

   To take or receive as one's own what is not so naturally.

   He adopted a new look in order to fit in with his new workmates.

   [S]he [Edwina, mother of Tennessee Williams] was indeed Amanda [Wingfield, character in Williams' play The Glass Menagerie] in the flesh: a doughty chatterbox from Ohio who adopted the manner of a Southern belle and eschewed both drink and sex to the greatest extent possible.

6. 6

   To select and take or approve.

   to adopt the view or policy of another

   These are resolutions that were adopted.

   Every society should adopt an order of business adapted to its special wants.

   Having found a property that 'feels' right you then have to adopt a hard-headed attitude and consider the realities of life in a new environment.

7. 7

   slangTo beat an opponent ten times in a row.

   The match was not even close; the IM made amateurish blunders and ended up getting adopted.

   Nakamura 'Adopts' Komodo On Fathers Day: 20.5-2.5

   Wednesday's event will offer the Russian grandmaster three opportunities to adopt Rensch, though just like in the Speed Chess Championship, Nepomniachtchi will have to race against the clock.

   "That's it, that's it!" the Grandmaster Eric Hansen bellowed after following nine straight losses with a win. "You are not adopting me! Not today, not today!"

noun

1. 1

   Variant of adoptableinformalClipping of adoptable.

Forms

plural

adopts

past tense

adopted

past participle

adopted

present participle

adopting

third person singular

adopts