conduce

Verb

conduce (third-person singular simple present conduces, present participle conducing, simple past and past participle conduced)

1. (formal, obsolete, transitive) To cause (something) to occur; to bring about.
   • And vvell aſſured you may be, the King's Highneſs upon Sight of theſe your ſaid Letters, not only much commended your great Diligence and provident Dexterity, in the vviſe conducing of theſe his vveighty Matters, vvhereby ye have deſerved his ſingular Favour and Thanks, but alſo took great...1518 (date written), John Strype, quoting Thomas Wolsey, “Wolsey’s Counsil and Influence in the King’s Affairs. …”, in Ecclesiastical Memorials; Relating Chiefly to Religion, and the Reformation of...
   • [T]he King's Grace vvell knovveth, perceiveth, and taketh, that more could not have been done, excogitated, or deviſed, than ye have largely endeavoured your ſelf unto for conducing the King's purpoſe, […]1529 (date written), Gilbert Burnet, “[A Collection of Records and Original Papers; with Other Instruments Referred to in the Former History.] XXIII. Another Dispatch to the Ambassadours to the Same...
2. (formal, obsolete, transitive) To contribute (something).
3. (also, figuratively, formal, obsolete, transitive) To conduct or lead (someone or something).
   • At laſt to conduce things to ſome order out of this Chaos of confuſion, their moſt learned Hiſtorian Elifarni, tooke vpon him to make ſtraight theſe crooked poſtures: […]1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “A Discourse of the Life and Habit of the Persians at this Present. [The Eight Commandement. Doe so to Others as Thou wouldest haue Them Doe to Thee.]”, in A Relation of...
4. (formal, obsolete, rare, transitive) To advantage or benefit (someone or something).

   Synonyms:

   profit

5. (formal, obsolete, possibly, rare, transitive) To carry on or continue (an activity).
   • VVithin my ſoule there doth conduce a fight / Of this ſtrange nature, that a thing inſeparat, / Diuides more vvider then the skie and earth: […]c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609...
6. (formal, intransitive) To contribute or lead to a specific result.
   • The reaſons you alleadge, do more conduce / To the hot paſſion of diſtempred blood, / Then to make vp a free determination / Tvvixt right and vvrong: […]c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609...
   • The Boaring of Holes, in that kinde of VVood, and then laying it abroad, ſeemeth to conduce to make it Shine: […]1631, Francis [Bacon], “IV. Century. [Experiment Solitary Touching Wood Shining in the Darke.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William...

   Synonyms:

   promote, subserve

   Antonyms:

   disconduce

7. (formal, intransitive, obsolete) To be advantageous to; to advantage, to benefit.
   • So [Julius Caesar] Scaliger of himſelfe ingenuouſly confeſſeth, […] I am mightily detained and allured vvith that grace & comelineſſe of faire vvomen, I am vvell pleaſed to bee idle amongſt them. And vvhat young man is not? As is acceptable and conducing to moſt, ſo eſpecially to a melancholy man.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Musicke a Remedy”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps...
   • Decoctions are made of Leaves, Roots, Flovvers, Seeds, Fruits, or Barks, conducing to the cure of the Diſease you make them for; in the ſame manner as they are made as vve ſhevved you in Syrups.1652, Nich[olas] Culpeper, “Directions. Sect. 2. The Way of Making and Keeping All Necessary Compounds. Chap. 4. Of Decoctions.”, in The English Physitian: Or An Astrologo-physical Discourse of the...

   Synonyms:

   profit