Compares

[kuhm-pair]

com·pare

[kuhm-pair] verb, com·pared, com·par·ing, noun
verb (used with object)
1.
to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences: to compare two pieces of cloth; to compare the governments of two nations.
2.
to consider or describe as similar; liken: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
3.
Grammar. to form or display the degrees of comparison of (an adjective or adverb).
verb (used without object)
4.
to be worthy of comparison; be held equal: Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's.
5.
to appear in a similar standing: His recital certainly compares with the one he gave last year.
6.
to differ in quality or accomplishment as specified: Their development compares poorly with that of neighbor nations.
7.
to vie; rival.
8.
to make a comparison: The only way we can say which product is better is to compare.

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Compares is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
noun
9.
comparison: Her beauty is beyond compare.
10.
compare notes. note (def. 32).

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English comparen < Latin comparāre to place together, match, verbal derivative of compar alike, matching (see com-, par); replacing Middle English comperen < Old French comperer < Latin

com·par·er, noun
in·ter·com·pare, verb (used with object), in·ter·com·pared, in·ter·com·par·ing.
pre·com·pare, verb (used with object), pre·com·pared, pre·com·par·ing.
re·com·pare, verb (used with object), re·com·pared, re·com·par·ing.
un·com·pared, adjective
EXPAND
well-com·pared, adjective
COLLAPSE

compare, contrast (see usage note at the current entry).


The traditional rule about which preposition to use after compare states that compare should be followed by to when it points out likenesses or similarities between two apparently dissimilar persons or things: She compared his handwriting to knotted string. Compare should be followed by with, the rule says, when it points out similarities or differences between two entities of the same general class: The critic compared the paintings in the exhibit with magazine photographs. This rule is by no means always observed, however, even in formal speech and writing. EXPANDThe usual practice is to employ to for likenesses between members of different classes: A language may be compared to a living organism. But when the comparison is between members of the same category, both to and with are used: The article compares the Chicago of today with (or to) the Chicago of the 1890s. Following the past participle compared, either to or with is used regardless of whether differences or similarities are stressed or whether the things compared belong to the same or different classes: Compared with (or to) the streets of 18th-century London, New York's streets are models of cleanliness and order.
COLLAPSE
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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