Word.ws English Dictionary

consult

UK/ˈkɒnsʌlt//ˈkɑnsʌlt/

consult noun: a visit to consult somebody, such as a doctor; a consultation.

Noun

consult (countable and uncountable, plural consults)

  1. (US, countable) A visit to consult somebody, such as a doctor; a consultation.
    Synonyms:
    consultation
  2. (obsolete) The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation.
    • For firſt upon conſult of reaſon, there will bee found no eaſie aſſurance for to faſten a materiall or temperamentall propriety upon any nation; […]1646, Thomas Browne, “Of the Iewes”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 4th book, page 201
  3. (obsolete) The result of consultation; determination; decision.
    • [T]he council broke; / And all their grave conſults diſſolv'd in ſmoke.a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760...
  4. (obsolete) A council; a meeting for consultation.
    • a consult of coquettes1730, Jonathan Swift, chapter 5, in Death and Daphne
  5. (obsolete) Agreement; concert.

Verb

consult (third-person singular simple present consults, present participle consulting, simple past and past participle consulted)

  1. (intransitive) To seek the opinion or advice of another; to take counsel; to deliberate together; to confer; to advise.
    • Let us consult upon to-morrow's business.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • 1661 (written), published in 1681, Thomas Hobbes, A Dialogue between a Philosopher and a Student of the Common Laws of England
      All the laws of England have been made by the kings of England, consulting with the nobility and commons.
    Synonyms:
    see
  2. (intransitive) To advise or offer expertise.
    • Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose I am the only one in the world. I’m a consulting detective, if you can understand what that is.1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […])...
  3. (intransitive) To work as a consultant or contractor rather than as a full-time employee of a firm.
  4. (transitive) To ask advice of; to seek the opinion of (a person)
    • If you have no library commission, consult a lawyer and get from him a careful statement of what can be done under present statutory regulations.1899, John Cotton Dana, chapter 1, in A Library Primer
    Synonyms:
    seek
  5. (transitive) To refer to (something) for information.
    • Which reminds me that I have never remembered from that hour to consult the dictionary upon a selvage.1904, Guy Wetmore Carryl, chapter 3, in Far from the Maddening Girls
    • Men forgot, or feared, to consult nature, to seek for new truths, to do what the great discoverers of other times had done; they were content to consult libraries.1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences
  6. (transitive) To have reference to, in judging or acting; to have regard to; to consider; as, to consult one's wishes.
    • We are […] to consult the necessities of life, rather than matters of ornament and delight.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC
  7. (obsolete, transitive) To deliberate upon; to take for.
    • Many things were there consulted for the future, yet nothing was positively resolved.1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed...
  8. (obsolete, transitive) To bring about by counsel or contrivance; to devise; to contrive.
    • Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Habakkuk 2:10

consult meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

consult in Hindi

सलाह-मशविरा करें, सलाह-मशविरा करना

consult in Tamil

கலந்து ஆலோசி

consult in Marathi

सल्लामसलत करा, सल्लामसलत करणे, सल्लामसलत करायला

consult in Urdu

رجوع کرنا, صلاح کرنا, پوچھنا, صلاح لینا
More languagesFewer languages
consult in Bengali
পরামর্শ করা, সলা দেওয়া, মন্ত্রণা করা, পরামর্শ লত্তয়া
consult in Malayalam
ഉപദേശം ചോദിച്ചറിയുക, കൂടിയാലോചിക്കുക
consult in Kannada
ಅರಿವು ಪಡೆ, ಮಾತುಕತೆ ನಡೆಸು, ಸಮಾಲೋಚಿಸು, ಪರ್ಯಾಲೋಚಿಸು
consult in Punjabi
ਸਲਾਹ-ਮਸ਼ਵਰਾ ਕਰੋ, ਸਲਾਹ ਮਸ਼ਵਰਾ ਕਰੋ, ਸਲਾਹ-ਮਸ਼ਵਰਾ ਕਰਨਾ
consult in Gujarati
પરામર્શ કરો, સલાહ-વિચારણા કરો
consult in Odia
ଭାଳିବା bhāḷibā
consult in Nepali
परामर्श गर्नुहोस्, परामर्श गर्ने
consult in Arabic
نَصَحَ naṣaḥa, اِسْتَشَارَ istašāra
consult in Indonesian
berkonsultasi
consult in Thai
ปรึกษา bprʉ̀k-sǎa, หารือ hǎa-rʉʉ, ให้คำปรึกษา

Examples of consult in a sentence

  • The South African leader went off to consult with the structures.
  • It is prudent to consult a physician before beginning any new exercise regimen.
  • She will have the definitive say in the matter, after consulting her board of directors.

All 40 example sentences with consult

Synonyms of consult

Forms of consult

Noun
pluralconsults
Verb
third-person singular presentconsults
present participleconsulting
past participleconsulted
pastconsulted

Past tense of consult: consulted

Plural of consult: consults

Origin of consult

From Middle French consulter, from Latin cōnsultum, from cōnsultus, from cōnsulō.

Words formed from consult

Words that rhyme with consult

3 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about consult

What does consult mean?
Consult means a visit to consult somebody, such as a doctor; a consultation.
What is consult in Hindi?
Consult in Hindi is सलाह-मशविरा करें, सलाह-मशविरा करना. See Consult meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is consult?
Consult can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce consult?
Consult is pronounced /ˈkɒnsʌlt/ (UK).
What is the plural of consult?
The plural of consult is consults.

Words near consult in the dictionary

  1. consuls
  2. consuls general
  3. consuls-general
  4. consulship
  5. consulships
  6. consult
  7. consulta
  8. consultability
  9. consultable
  10. consultancies
  11. consultancy

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: consult (page history and authors); consult (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); consult (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); consult (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); consult (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); consult (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); consult (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); consult (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); consult (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); consult (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ଭାଳିବା (Odia) (page history and authors); consult (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: en-us-consult-noun.ogg.

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