Meaning & use
combine
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To join two or more things together so they make one thing or work together.
Grammar: Takes an object: combine the flour and the sugar.
Patterns
- combine something with something
- combine something and something
Combine the flour and the sugar in a large bowl.
The design combines old and new styles.
She combined her two hobbies by making music for dance.
verbintransitive
To join together as a group or unit, often to achieve a shared aim.
Grammar: No object; often followed by to or with: they combined to win.
Patterns
- combine to do something
- combine with someone
The two firms combined to form a larger company.
The rivals combined against a common enemy.
Hunger and cold combined to make the journey hard.
verbintransitivechemistry
To join chemically to form a compound.
Grammar: Used in chemistry: hydrogen combines with oxygen.
Patterns
- combine with something
Hydrogen combines with oxygen to produce water.
Iron combines with air and moisture to form rust.
The two elements combined quickly in the flask.
nouncountable
A large farm machine that cuts and threshes grain in one pass.
Grammar: Noun stress is on the first syllable: a COM-bine harvester.
Patterns
- combine harvester
The farmer drove the combine across the wheat field.
A combine can harvest many acres in a day.
The old combine broke down in the middle of harvest.
nouncountablebusiness
A group of people or companies working together for business or political advantage.
Grammar: Often in business or sports training contexts.
Patterns
- a combine of something
A powerful combine of oil companies controlled prices.
The football scouts attended the combine to test young players.
A combine of local firms bought the stadium.
Word forms
| third person singular | combines |
|---|---|
| past tense | combined |
| past participle | combined |
| present participle | combining |
Common combinations
- combine with
- Combine the lemon juice with honey.
- combine forces
- The two charities combined forces to raise money.
- combine ingredients
- Combine the ingredients slowly.
- combine harvester
- The combine harvester moved across the field.
- combine work and family
- Many parents combine work and family.
Synonyms and how they differ
- merge
- Merge suggests two things becoming one so that they cannot be separated, such as companies or roads.
- mix
- Mix suggests blending things so their parts are spread through each other, which is often less careful than combine.
- unite
- Unite is used for people or groups coming together for a shared aim.
- blend
- Blend implies mixing so smoothly that the parts are hard to tell apart.
Opposites
Word family
- combination noun
- a mixture or joining of things
- combined adjective
- joined together
- combinable adjective
- able to be combined
- recombine verb
- to join together again
Commonly confused: combine or compile? combine or combing?
combine vs compile
Compile means to collect items into a list or book, not to join them into a single unit.
combine vs combing
Combing is brushing hair with a comb, from a different word.
Practice
The two small companies decided to ____ to form one larger firm.
Choose one answer.
Combine means to join together, which suits forming one firm. Compare, compete and compose have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “combine”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.