decide
verb/dɪˈsaɪd/
Etymology From Middle English deciden, from Old French decider, from Latin dēcīdere, infinitive of dēcīdō (“cut off, decide”), from dē (“down from”) + caedō (“cut”).
1
Ambitransitive To resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle.
- The election will be decided on foreign policies.
- It was decided to meet here at midnight.
3 more examples
- Her last-minute goal decided the game.
- The quarrel toucheth none but us alone; / Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- I did not see the program, but Mrs. Nixon told me that you were great on the Donahue Show. As you can imagine, she is an expert on politics and she predicts that whenever you decide to run for office you will be a winner!1987 December 21, Richard Nixon, Letters to Trump, Winning Team Publishing, published 2023, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 10:
2
To make a judgment, especially after deliberation.
- You must decide between good and evil.
- I have decided that it is healthier to walk to work.
2 more examples
- So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 20:40:
- Since this cowl released a flutter of moths and parted at the shoulder as he was getting into it, he decided that it must be his own.1954, Hubert Van Zeller, Downside By and Large, page 277:
3
To cause someone to come to a decision.
- Your admonition decided me against my intended course of action.
- It decides me to look into the matter, for if it is worth anyone's while to take so much trouble, there must be something in it.1920, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Three Gables, Norton, published 2005, page 1537:
4
Computing, Computing theory, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Of a Turing machine: to return a correct answer (for some yes-or-no problem) on every possible input.
- No Turing Machine can decide the halting problem.
- First, the hierarchy theorems tell us that a Turing machine can decide more languages in EXPSPACE than it can in PSPACE.1997, Michael Sipser, Introduction to the Theory of Computation, Boston, M.A.: PWS Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 313:
5
Obsolete To cut off; to separate.
- Our seat denies us traffic here; / The sea, too near, decides us from the rest.1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC:
- Synonyms
- choose up, decide, determine, find, judge, posken, make a decision, make up one's mind, take a decision, work out
- Antonyms
- jump to conclusions, rush to judgement
- Derived terms
- decidability, decidable, decidement, decide on, decide upon, decidophobia, misdecide, predecide, redecide, undecide
- Hypernyms
- sit in judgement