Word.ws English Dictionary

compile

/kəmˈpaɪl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/kəmˈpɑɪl/

compile verb: to make by gathering pieces from various sources.

Verb

compile (third-person singular simple present compiles, present participle compiling, simple past and past participle compiled)

  1. (transitive) To make by gathering pieces from various sources.
    • Samuel Johnson compiled one of the most influential dictionaries of the English language.
    • So what is it that makes SBB (Swiss national railways) tick? In my humble opinion, two things. Firstly, a comprehensive and set-in-stone integrated timetable (incorporating trains, ferries, cable cars and buses, including the world-famous yellow 'post-autos'), compiled four years in advance and...2025 October 15, Vitali Vitaliev, “The recipe for Swiss bliss”, in RAIL, number 1046, page 68
  2. (obsolete) To construct; to build.
    • Before that Merlin dyde, he did intend / A brasen wall in compas to compyle / About Cairmardin […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  3. (transitive) To achieve (a break) by making a sequence of shots.
    • Steve Davis compiled a 147.
  4. (transitive) To use a compiler to process source code and produce executable code.
    • After I compile this program I’ll run it and see if it works.
  5. (intransitive) To be successfully processed by a compiler into executable code.
    • There must be an error in my source code because it won’t compile.
  6. (obsolete, transitive) To contain or comprise.
    • After ſo long a race as I haue run / Through Faery land, vvhich thoſe ſix books cõpile [compile] / giue leaue to reſt me being halfe fordonne, / and gather to my ſelfe nevv breath avvhile.1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet LXXX”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, signature F, verso
  7. (obsolete) To write; to compose.
    • They are at their leisure much given to poetry; in which they compile the praises of virtuous men and actions , satires against vice1690, William Temple, Miscellanea. The Second Part. […], London: […] T. M. for Ri[chard] and Ra[lph] Simpson, […], →OCLC, section II, page 188

Noun

compile (plural compiles)

  1. An act of compiling code.
    • […] programming team managers assumed the "improved programs" produced through structured programming would not require as many compiles during development.1985, Robert A Stern, An Introduction to Computers and Information Processing
    • Any file with an error or warning on it will be added to this smart group until the next compile.2007, Scott Meyers, Mike Lee, MAC OS X Leopard: Beyond the Manual

compile meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

compile in Hindi

संकलन करना, संकलित करना

compile in Tamil

ஒடுக்கு, தொகு, தொகுத்தளி, இருமமாக்கு

compile in Urdu

مرتب کرنا, تالیف کرنا, ترتیب دینا

compile in Bengali

রচনা করা, সংগ্রহ করা, সঙ্কলন করা, সংকলন করা
More languagesFewer languages
compile in Telugu
సంకలనం చెయ్యడానికి
compile in Malayalam
ശേഖരിക്കുക, സാരഗ്രഹണം ചെയ്യുക, ഗ്രന്ഥരൂപത്തിലാക്കുക, സംഗ്രഹിക്കുക
compile in Kannada
ಒಟ್ಟುಗೂಡಿಸು, ಸಂಕಲನ ಮಾಡು, ಸಂಗ್ರಹ ಮಾಡು, ಸಂಕಲಿಸು
compile in Punjabi
ਸੰਕਲਿਤ ਕਰਨਾ, ਕੰਪਾਇਲ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
compile in Gujarati
સંકલન કરો
compile in Odia
ସଂକଳନ କରିବା, ସଂକଳନ କରନ୍ତୁ
compile in Nepali
कम्पाइल गर्न
compile in Arabic
تجميع
compile in Persian
فراهمیستن, ترجمیستن

Examples of compile in a sentence

  • The preprocessor expands any embedded macros into source code before it is compiled.
  • This library has dependencies on a lot of other libraries. We have to compile all of those other libraries first.
  • One of this library's dependencies is very finicky. It can be hard to get it to compile on some systems.

All 40 example sentences with compile

Forms of compile

Verb
third-person singular presentcompiles
present participlecompiling
past participlecompiled
pastcompiled
Noun
pluralcompiles

Past tense of compile: compiled

Origin of compile

From Middle English compilen, from Old French compiler, from Latin compīlō (“to plunder”).

Words formed from compile

Phrases with compile

Words that rhyme with compile

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about compile

What does compile mean?
Compile means to make by gathering pieces from various sources.
What is compile in Hindi?
Compile in Hindi is संकलन करना, संकलित करना. See Compile meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is compile?
Compile can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce compile?
Compile is pronounced /kəmˈpaɪl/ (UK).
What is the past tense of compile?
The past tense of compile is compiled.

Words near compile in the dictionary

  1. compilation
  2. compilations
  3. compilator
  4. compilators
  5. compilatory
  6. compile
  7. compile time
  8. compile times
  9. compile-and-go
  10. compile-time
  11. compiled

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: compile (page history and authors); compile (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); compile (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); compile (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); compile (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); compile (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); compile (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); compile (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); compile (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); compile (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); compile (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); compile (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-compile.wav.

Cite this entry: “compile.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/compile. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.