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adopt

[uh-dopt] / əˈdɒpt /


VERB
legally care for another's child
Synonyms
Antonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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A drop in small boats illegally reaching the UK is forcing people smuggling gangs to adopt new tactics, a BBC investigation has found.

From BBC Sep. 3, 2026

"We have to adopt certain principles of conscious food systems to make it more mindful, so young people can relate to the connection to the land in their hearts, not just the economics," he said.

From Barron's Sep. 3, 2026

HPE CFO Marie Myers told MarketWatch that customers are both upgrading data centers to meet new workload demands and moving to adopt AI in enterprise settings.

From MarketWatch Sep. 2, 2026

The U.S. president’s naming authority extends only to federal maps and agencies; other nations — and private map providers — are not obligated to adopt the change.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 30, 2026

Mr. Sandrouni said, “He asked me to adopt him, but I refused.”

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye

Pressure and temperature alone may not determine which structure the material adopts.

From Science Daily Aug. 20, 2026

That’s a dangerous idea, regardless of which party adopts it.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 18, 2026

The outfit partners with Kitten Rescue Los Angeles, a nonprofit that rescues and adopts out homeless cats and kittens.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 10, 2026

Cardiff University said it was sorry that "any student felt unsafe" on campus and that it adopts a "zero-tolerance approach to harassment and discrimination of all kinds".

From BBC Jul. 26, 2026

Try being a white person who adopts the trappings of black culture while still living in the white community.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Macron and Starmer enjoyed good ties and adopted lead roles in the coalition of nations supporting Ukraine.

From Barron's Sep. 3, 2026

The presentation is both the first devoted solely to 30 years of the filmmaker’s photography practice in L.A. and the first exhibition in his adopted city since his death in 2025.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 3, 2026

Within days, all of college sports’ major conferences adopted policies against such players returning, essentially enforcing the NCAA’s original rule.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 2, 2026

The discoveries accumulated so quickly that physicists adopted the general label XYZ states for many of these poorly understood particles.

From Science Daily Sep. 2, 2026

I close my eyes and try to imagine telling my mother that I’ve been adopted by someone else.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

"We see the opportunity of joining the EU and adopting the euro as a very significant benefit to Icelandic companies and to the Icelandic general public," he says.

From BBC Aug. 26, 2026

The first overlooked ruler identified by Edmonds and Frahm used the name Tiglath-pileser, apparently adopting the name of an earlier Assyrian king.

From Science Daily Aug. 26, 2026

Omoto said the company was adopting Berkshire’s approach to capital allocation, directing investments toward businesses with competitive advantages and continued growth potential while reinvesting earnings in them over the long term.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 14, 2026

California campaigns have long been at the forefront of adopting new technologies.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 11, 2026

Only further threats, notably Shays’s Rebellion of 1786 and the unsolved burden of war debt, overcame the ex-colonies’ extreme reluctance to sacrifice autonomy and pushed them into adopting our current strong federal constitution in 1787.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond




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