Meaning & use
verify
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To check carefully that something is true, correct or really what it claims to be.
Grammar: Takes an object or a clause: verify the facts; verify that the data is correct.
Patterns
- verify something
- verify that something is true
- verify something with someone
Reporters must verify a story with two sources before printing it.
Please verify that your email address is spelled correctly.
The airline asked her to verify her identity at the desk.
verbtransitiveformal
To show by evidence or later events that a claim, theory or prediction is correct.
Grammar: Takes an object; the subject is usually a test, result or observation: the experiment verified the theory.
Patterns
- something verifies something
Later measurements verified the scientist's prediction.
The audit verified the accuracy of the company's accounts.
Nothing in the records verifies his story.
Word forms
| third person singular | verifies |
|---|---|
| past tense | verified |
| past participle | verified |
| -ing form | verifying |
Common combinations
- verify a claim
- Journalists work hard to verify a claim before they publish it.
- verify your identity
- You need a photo ID to verify your identity.
- independently verify
- The results were independently verified by another lab.
- verify an account
- Click the link to verify your account.
- unable to verify
- Officials were unable to verify the report.
- verify the accuracy of
- We must verify the accuracy of these figures.
Synonyms and how they differ
- confirm
- Confirm can simply mean to say that something is so, while verify requires actual checking against evidence.
- validate
- Validate often means to prove that something meets an official standard or is acceptable, while verify focuses on truth or accuracy.
- check
- Check is the everyday, informal word and may be quick, but verify suggests a more careful and complete process.
- corroborate
- Corroborate means supporting something already claimed with additional evidence, which is narrower than verify.
Opposites
Word family
- verification noun
- the process of checking that something is true
- verifiable adjective
- able to be checked and shown to be true
- verifier noun
- a person or tool that checks
- verified adjective
- checked and shown to be real, as in a verified account
- unverified adjective
- not yet checked
Commonly confused: verify or verity? verify or versify?
verify vs verity
Verity is a formal noun meaning truth, whereas verify is the verb for checking it.
verify vs versify
Versify means to write in verse and is unrelated apart from similar spelling.
Practice
Before sharing the shocking statistic, the editor asked an assistant to ___ it against official records.
Choose one answer.
Verify means to check that something is accurate, which is what comparing against records does. Modify means to change, exaggerate means to overstate, and rehearse means to practice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “verify”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.