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become

[bih-kuhm]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used without object)

to come, change, or grow to be (as specified): He became tired.

to come into being.

verb (used with object)

to be attractive on; befit in appearance; look well on: That gown becomes you.

to be suitable or necessary to the dignity, situation, or responsibility of: conduct that becomes an officer.

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Become is one of our favorite verbs.

So is peculate. Does it mean:

to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.

chat, to converse

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Idiom

become of, to happen to; be the fate of: What will become of him?

Origin:
before 900; Middle English becumen, Old English becuman to come about, happen; cognate with Dutch bekomen, German bekommen, Gothic biqiman. See be-, come

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To become

Example Sentences

As women become wealthier, colleges learn to solicit gifts from them.

Oil remains a vital raw material, but bits and bytes have become one too.

Humans are about to become a majority urban species for the first time.

EXPAND

As women become wealthier, colleges learn to solicit gifts from them.

Oil remains a vital raw material, but bits and bytes have become one too.

Humans are about to become a majority urban species for the first time.

Child mortality rates decline as women become better educated.

Medical companies ignored the needs of premature infants, inspiring a nurse to become an entrepreneur.

Google is set to become your new phone company, perhaps reducing your phone bill to zilch in the process.

The consequences for students who lack those skills have become increasingly clear both on campus and after graduation.

Europe has become a more fertile place for technology companies.

Most city skies have become virtually empty of stars.

Patient-derived stem cells reprogrammed to become healthier.

Some species proposed for bioenergy have the potential to become invasive.

Once neglected, this spot has become the focal point of the neighborhood.

Saddlebags are about to become the next big bike fashion.

The impact factor, once a simple way to rank scientific journals, has become an.

As you become known, you have to extend your range, and as you extend your range you have to present more and more collections.

Clothing styles have also become more uniform as a result of globalization.

Such powerful storms are exactly what scientists predict to become more frequent as the climate changes.

As he says: become a traveler rather than a tourist.

Paper bags, fabric remnants, and magazine pages become gift wrap.

The new breed of experimental, low-powered laser weapons may or may not become useful on the battlefield.

Many of you reading this post may already be seasoned professors, while others are aspiring to become one.

One interpretation of all this might be that selfish people find it easier to become rich.

National and regional costumes have become rarer as globalization has increased.

Evolution has become a coherent and compact model of natural process.

Eisenhower delivered a farewell address that has since become known for its prescient discussion of the encroaching impact of.

They also become particularly attractive, making a tasteful gift.

It's a kind of play in which you become more aware of your body and your physical well-being.

We live at a time when friendship has become both all and nothing at all.

But some people think that will become physically difficult sooner rather than later.

From splits and smoothies to breads and pies, bananas have become an international food staple.

Families become suspects as rules on dna matches relax.

Some wires, made of cobalt oxide and gold, become the negative poles of the battery.

The genuine and virtual towns have become inseparable.

They doubt the integrity of the system and become more sensitive to perceived inequities.

The practices of mapping have again become a key cultural moment.

It is turning into the recurring pattern, and may become the ultimate tragedy, of his presidency.

The ships often become artificial reefs and habitats, providing shelter for the.

In what has become almost routine, the heart-lung machine.

Intestinal parasites have become more common in both the baboons and the people.

Elsewhere, plant in spring when divisions become available at nurseries, and hope for the best.

Women become wenches, every drink becomes a mug of rum and every.

Similarly, in music, sampling-entire tracks constructed from other tracks-has become commonplace.

Pushing ahead of their elders, they have become intoxicated with the possibility of change.

As wild tiger populations shrink, zoos become an increasingly critical reservoir for tiger survival.

If the world hopes to feed its burgeoning population, irrigation must become less wasteful and more widespread.

Jonathan had become something of a father figure to the younger man.

Flat outdoor areas for sitting, entertaining, and relaxing become precious.

So he gave up haute couture to become a softwear engineer.

It has become a dominant meme to describe the role of information technology in higher education as transformative.

Long-term unemployment is harder to cure, as people's skills atrophy and they become detached from the workforce.

Despite our economic worries, we've become a world of connected consumers in a time of stunning and constant change.

Coal exports become a burning economic and environmental issue down under.

In a non-subsidized world, once fish stocks become depleted, fishers would no longer be able to earn a living.

Mark the spot with a stake and add the plants as they become available in the spring.

Introducing the cell phone that may become the ultimate chick magnet.

The debate about global warming has become too narrow and.

The current economic malaise will increase the pressure on companies to become more efficient.

As old patterns make way for new, our thinking and our ways of life become more urban, more.

Solar cells, wind turbines and biofuels are poised to become major energy sources.

The lists become fascinating glimpses into the minds and habits of their creators.

To grow these plants as shrubs, shorten any shoots that become too long.

The academy event aims to bring more subject experts to what has become the de facto storehouse for human knowledge.

It is easy to become inured to the rhetoric of globalization, which seems to be on the lips of every ambitious college president.

But record labels have become wary of social-media indicators.

Afflicted birds become awkward and disoriented, flying into objects and falling off their roosts.

Large-scale agriculture would become more sustainable if major crop plants lived for years and built deep root systems.

Behind the set, pneumatic pods inflated to become ticket-windows and dressing rooms.

Dolese thinks a few special pieces are interesting, but several become clutter.

Recasting fairy tale iconography in contemporary context has become popular with artists as well.

Jorge can get in line and become a legal citizen the right way.

Economists can become seduced by their models, fooling themselves that what the model leaves out does not matter.

More resin oozed over the centipede, trapping it forever in what would become a golden, see-through tomb.

One day the ersatz seascape will likely become the real thing.

The plants themselves become radioactive waste, which can be handled, and the water is cleansed.

Gather your flower bulbs as soon as they become available in nurseries.

They could become the first family in the world to be implanted with microchips that contain their personal information.

He says poor examples set by professors can have lasting effects as their students become faculty members.

The idea of formal retirement did not become feasible until work moved.

He has become a hero to those who no longer want to play by society's rules.

Throughout the electric grid's evolution, states have become increasingly connected to their neighbors.

His color pictures were meant to be personal keepsakes but they've become invaluable artifacts.

Mismatched candlesticks become a fresh new set with a coat of paint.

In a country with a shaky commitment to the rule of law, those identifiers could become weapons.

Rader, a gynecologic oncologist, to become chair of obstetrics and gynecology there.

If the word has become weak at conveying big corporate messages, it has become even weaker at conveying small ones.

Once fertile areas of the planet become desert, never to be green again within our lifetimes.

Valuing diversity has become a truism, but it is interesting to consider exactly how diversity improves decision making.

Thanks to its indoor-outdoor connection and wealth of amenities, the courtyard has become a much-used addition to the home.

To become a scholar, you must become both a specialist and a generalist.

Although our numbers have become immense, we're not spread evenly across the face of the planet.

If you dropped all the world's data into a black box, could it become a crystal.

Like a canvas waiting for paint, an empty garden planter can become anything you desire: a meditation in violet, a carnival.

But not all original contributions take the form of books, even if some pieces of your contribution will one day become a book.

Chinese history has become the story of average citizens.

Two stars become one, and trigger a rare type of nova.

Bunches of ripe tomatoes still clinging to the vine have become a familiar sight at produce markets.

E-reserves and other digital means of distributing copyrighted material have become an increasingly sore subject for publishers.

The chameleon's brain may tell the yellow cells in its skin to become larger than the blue cells below.

New science reveals why cities become more productive and efficient as they grow.

In fact, lots of baseball terms have become part of everyday speech.

Oil spills cause the fur and feathers of affected wildlife to become wet and matted, causing hypothermia.

Pure diamond is an electrical insulator, but doped, it can become a semiconductor with exceptional properties.

Boosting people's sense of self-worth has become a national preoccupation.

Over the years, the role of university auditor has become increasingly professionalized.

The particles that once seemed impossibly esoteric have become ever more informative.

Old salvaged oars become handrails for the cabin's stairway and complement the white beadboard walls.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

become (bɪˈkʌm)

—vb , -comes, -coming, -came, -come
1.	(copula) to come to be; develop or grow into: he became a monster
2.	(foll by of; usually used in a question) to fall to or be the lot (of); happen (to): what became of him?
3.	(tr) (of clothes, etc) to enhance the appearance of (someone); suit: that dress becomes you
4.	(tr) to be appropriate; befit: it ill becomes you to complain

[Old English becuman to happen; related to Old High German biqueman to come to, Gothic biquiman to appear suddenly]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

become

O.E. becuman "happen, come about," also "meet with, arrive," from P.Gmc. *bikweman "become" (cf. Du. bekomen, Ger. bekommen, Goth. biquiman). A compound of be and come; it drove out O.E. weorðan.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

become

In addition to the idiom beginning with become, also see idioms beginning with get.