decide
/dɪˈsaɪd/
decide verb: to resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle.
Verb
decide (third-person singular simple present decides, present participle deciding, simple past and past participle decided)
- 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.
- 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.
- Synonyms:
- judge, make up one's mind
- 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
- 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
- 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
decide meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
decide in Hindi
- to resolve or settle
- निर्णय करना nirṇay karnā, फ़ैसला करना faislā karnā
decide in Tamil
- தீர்மானி
decide in Marathi
- to decide, settle
- ठरवणे ṭharavṇe
decide in Urdu
- to resolve or settle
- فیصلہ کرنا faislā karnā
More languagesFewer languages
- decide in Bengali
- স্থির করা sthir kora
- decide in Malayalam
- തീരുമാനിക്കുക tīrumānikkuka
- decide in Kannada
- ತೀರ್ಮಾನಿಸು, ತರಿಸಲಗೆಯ್ಯು, ಪೂಣ್ಗೊಳ್, ಗೊತ್ತುಮಾಡು
- decide in Punjabi
- متھنا mitthṇā
- decide in Gujarati
- નક્કી કરવું nakkī karvũ, ઠરાવવું ṭharāvvũ
- decide in Arabic
- قَرَّرَ qarrara, صَمَّمَ ṣammama
- decide in Malay
- putus
- decide in Persian
- تصمیم گرفتن tasmim gereftan
- decide in Thai
- ตัดสินใจ dtàt sĭn jai, ตัดสิน dtàt sĭn
- decide in Vietnamese
- quyết định
- decide in Myanmar
- သန္နိဌာန်ချ sanni.htanhkya., ဆုံးဖြတ် hcum:hprat
Examples of decide in a sentence
- 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...
- 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:
Synonyms of decide
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of decide
| third-person singular present | decides |
|---|---|
| present participle | deciding |
| past participle | decided |
| past | decided |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | decidest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | decidedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | decideth |
Origin of decide
From Middle English deciden, from Old French decider, from Latin dēcīdere, infinitive of dēcīdō (“cut off, decide”), from dē (“down from”) + caedō (“cut”).
Words formed from decide
Words that rhyme with decide
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- provide
- tied
- fried
- glide
- hide
- inside
- bide
- offside
- -side
- collide
- confide
- flipside
- set aside
- stride
- subside
- aside
- beride
- beside
- bestride
- chide
- coincide
- cyanide
- dried
- elide
- eyed
- gride
- preside
- reside
- Ryde
- allied
- applied
- astride
- betide
- bride
- deride
- dyed
- guyed
- I'd
- imide
- incide
- pied
- right side
- said
- snide
- statewide
- tried
- vide
- allide
Questions about decide
- What does decide mean?
- Decide means to resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle.
- What is decide in Hindi?
- Decide in Hindi is निर्णय करना (nirṇay karnā), फ़ैसला करना (faislā karnā). See Decide meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use decide in a sentence?
- Her last-minute goal decided the game.
- What part of speech is decide?
- Decide is a verb.
- How do you pronounce decide?
- Decide is pronounced /dɪˈsaɪd/.
- What is the past tense of decide?
- The past tense of decide is decided.
Words near decide in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: decide (page history and authors); decide (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ठरवणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); decide (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); متھنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ઠરાવવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors). 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-decide.ogg.
Cite this entry: “decide.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/decide. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.