- com|bine
- com|bine (verb. 1, 2 kuhm BYN; verb. 3 KOM byn; noun. 1 KOM byn, kuhm BYN; noun. 2, 3 KOM byn», verb, -bined, -bin|ing, noun.–v.t.1. to join things, persons, or groups together; unite: »
to combine work and play. Our club combined the offices of secretary and treasurer so that one person could do the work of both. A sense of common danger might…combine them in operations of defense (James Mill).
SYNONYM(S): associate, ally, mix. See syn. under join. (Cf. ↑join)2. to have or show in union or combination: »Figurative. a position which…combined…strength, beauty, and fertility (Arthur Stanley).
3. to harvest with a combine: »Rains have knocked down the wheat in some fields, made it too moist to combine in others (Wall Street Journal).
–v.i.1. to unite or join; come together for a common purpose; form a combination: »The great landlords and the financiers had combined against the small bourgeoisie and the workers (Edmund Wilson).
SYNONYM(S): confederate.2. to unite to form a chemical compound: »Two atoms of hydrogen combine with one of oxygen to form water.
3. to harvest with a combine: »Shall we start combining or do we wait until the grain has lost further 1 per cent of moisture? (London Times).
–n.1. a group of people joined together for some common purpose; combination: »His brother…became the editor of the Socialist Daily Herald…owned by the capitalist publishing combine of Odham's (Maclean's).
2. U.S. a machine for harvesting and threshing grain, soybeans, etc. It cuts the stalks and separates the seeds from them as it moves across a field. »The chemical revolution on the farm is as responsible for the farmer's zooming production as his tractor and combine (Newsweek).
3. an artistic work made up of a combination of painting, collage, and construction: »... the assemblages and combines of Robert Rauschenberg (New Yorker).
–com|bin´a|ble, adjective.–com|bin´er, noun.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
