Conform to (original) (raw)

I. (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Behave in accordance or in agreement with

Example:

Follow my example

Synonyms:

conform to; follow

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "conform to" is one way to...):

copy; imitate; simulate (reproduce someone's behavior or looks)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "conform to"):

go by (be or act in accordance with)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fill, satisfy or meet a want or need or condtion ro restriction

Example:

meet a need

Synonyms:

conform to; fill; fit; fulfil; fulfill; meet; satisfy

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "conform to" is one way to...):

cater; ply; provide; supply (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "conform to"):

answer (be satisfactory for; meet the requirements of or serve the purpose of)

appease; quell; stay (overcome or allay)

content (satisfy in a limited way)

feed on; feed upon (be sustained by)

allay; assuage; quench; slake (satisfy (thirst))

fill the bill; fit the bill (be what is needed or be good enough for what is required)

fulfil; fulfill; live up to; satisfy (meet the requirements or expectations of)

accommodate; fit; suit (be agreeable or acceptable to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Observe

Example:

conform to the rules

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "conform to" is one way to...):

abide by; comply; follow (act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Antonym:

violate (fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns)

Credits

Context examples:

A type of company, authorized only in certain states, whose owners and managers receive the limited liability and (usually) tax benefits of an S Corporation without having to conform to the S corporation restrictions.

(Limited Liability Partnership, NCI Thesaurus)

She could think of William the next day more cheerfully; and as the morning afforded her an opportunity of talking over Thursday night with Mrs. Grant and Miss Crawford, in a very handsome style, with all the heightenings of imagination, and all the laughs of playfulness which are so essential to the shade of a departed ball, she could afterwards bring her mind without much effort into its everyday state, and easily conform to the tranquillity of the present quiet week.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I am guilty, I confess, of having often wished you to treat our acquaintance in general with greater attention; but when have I advised you to adopt their sentiments or to conform to their judgment in serious matters?

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Modern society often places abnormal pressure on the human body — from shifting time schedules due to air travel, to work cycles that don't conform to natural light, to odd eating times — and these external conditions create an imbalance in the body's natural cycles, which are evolutionarily synchronized to day and night.

(Neurons That Control Brain's Body Clock Identified, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Why, in defiance of every precept and principle of this house, does she conform to the world so openly—here in an evangelical, charitable establishment—as to wear her hair one mass of curls?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)