Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use determine in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb

Determine means to set the boundaries or limits of. Example: “The news of his father's illness determined him to depart immediately.”

Examples of determine by meaning

verbTo ascertain definitely; to figure out, find out, or conclude by analyzing, calculating, or investigating.

  • Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845

verbTo fix the course of; to impel and direct; with a remoter object preceded by to.

  • The news of his father's illness determined him to depart immediately.

verbTo bring to a conclusion, as a question or controversy; to settle authoritative or judicial sentence; to decide.

  • The court has determined the cause.

verbTo resolve (to do something); to establish a fixed intention; to cause (something) to come to a conclusion or decision...

  • I determined to go home at once.
  • But the Dutch, de Witt especially, were quite aware that Charles II was largely stalling for time, although they didn't quite know why, and determined to end the war, on their terms, in a single strike.2019 April 24, Drachinifel, 7:23 from the start, in The Raid on the Medway - Grand Theft Warship, archived from the original on 26 Dec 2020

verbTo bring to an end, finish; to come to an end, stop, end.

  • If a lease is determined by notice, forfeiture or frustration, all incumbrances will normally end automatically with the determination of the lease and can therefore be ignored.2021, HM Land Registry, Practice guide 26: leases – determination, archived from the original on 04 Oct 2021

More sentences with determine

  • I should determine the minimal amount of egg required to make good mayonnaise.From the entry egg
  • He suspected the image was a Web bug used for determining who was visiting the site.From the entry bug
  • His first letter was not a real offer, but an attempt to determine interest.From the entry offer
  • Phrenology involves feeling the bumps in the skull to determine an individual's psychological attributes.From the entry phrenology
  • We will need to perform a biopsy to determine whether the tumour is malignant or benign.From the entry biopsy
  • The network hub polled the department’s computers to determine which ones could still respond.From the entry poll
  • It was his job to survey buildings in order to determine their value and risks.From the entry survey
  • He stared at me searchingly, trying to determine if I was lying.From the entry searchingly
  • The subway map was quite informational, allowing us to determine the most efficient route to our destination.From the entry informational
  • They were asked to program an expression evaluator that could determine the value of a numeric expression.From the entry evaluator
  • The doctor percussed his chest to determine whether he had pneumonia.From the entry percuss
  • A modern pregnancy test looks for human chorionic gonadotropin to determine whether a woman is pregnant.From the entry pregnancy test
  • We can determine the age of fossils using radiometric dating.From the entry age
  • I'm unable to determine which is bigger.From the entry which
  • In this assignment you will analyze each of the following sentences and determine the valence of the highlighted verb.From the entry valence
  • Insufficient of the building remains to determine its age.From the entry insufficient
  • The magician claimed he could telepathically determine which card I was holding, but I knew it was a trick.From the entry telepathically
  • The minimum and maximum daylights on an injection molding machine determines the sizes of the items it can make.From the entry daylight
  • Baricity is used in anesthesia to determine the manner in which a particular drug will spread in the intrathecal space.From the entry baricity
  • Canon law determines who is declared a saint.From the entry canon law
  • It is not clear that this particular legal question has ever been a determining factor in any case to date.From the entry in any case
  • You can download a trial version of the program for thirty days to determine whether you want to purchase the full version.From the entry download
  • The surgeon sent a specimen of the cyst to the hospital's pathology department for staining and analysis to determine its histologic subtype.From the entry pathology
  • She wanted to study and be able determine her own path in life.2026 February 2, “Strong Women - The Fight for Self-Determination”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 13 May 2026. From the entry self-confidence
  • Accountability: Who determines whether something has gone wrong, and who determines whether the problem is fixed?2025 June 3, Cullen Murphy, “Feudalism Is Our Future: What the next Dark Ages could look like”, in The Atlantic. From the entry sub
  • “I have ordered an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps.2025 May 5, Karina Tsui, “Trump wants to reopen one of America’s most notorious prisons. Here’s how Alcatraz earned its reputation”, in CNN. From the entry USP
  • Because the base material is what determines material classification, that button is not classified as an enamel.2024, Karen L. Cohen, Barbara Barrans, Enamel Buttons: An Essential Resource for Collectors, page 40. From the entry enameled
  • Lenders often assess the risk profile of borrowers to determine the appropriate level of overcollateralization needed.2024 January 28, Michael Taylor, “What Is Overcollateralized and How Does It Work?”, in Shifting Shares. From the entry overcollateralization
  • The German authorities are still trying to determine what damage their mole may have done.2023 February 17, Erika Solomon, Christopher F. Schuetze, Julian E. Barnes, “A Russian Mole in Germany Sows Suspicions at Home, and…. From the entry rattle
  • But this is the proposition that is now poised to determine the future of farming.2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News &…. From the entry taker
  • Your weapon’s penetration status will determine exactly what walls you can and cannot wallbang.2020 June 13, Andy Williams, Complete Valorant wallbang guide for Bind: Spots, angles, glitches, more, archived from the original on 26…. From the entry wallbang
  • The type determines the aesthetic style of the level, but also affects the challenges that are posed.2019, S. M. Lucas, V. Volz, “Tile pattern KL-divergence for analysing and evolving game levels”, in Proceedings of the Genetic and…. From the entry athletic
  • Lines are often blurred when it comes to determining when a tech company becomes a FinTech.2019 February 5, Banking Circle, “What is FinTech, and what does it mean for your business?”, in News and Events: Insights, archived from…. From the entry fintech
  • The U.S. justice system uses an algorithm called COMPAS to determine a criminal's likelihood to re-offend.2018 January 29, Sophie Kleber, “As AI Meets the Reputation Economy, We're All Being Silently Judged”, in Harvard Business Review…. From the entry defendant

Meaning of determine

  1. verb To set the boundaries or limits of.
  2. verb To ascertain definitely; to figure out, find out, or conclude by analyzing, calculating, or investigating.
  3. verb To fix the form or character of; to shape; to prescribe imperatively; to regulate; to settle.

Full definition of determine

Questions about determine in a sentence

How do you use determine in a sentence?
Determine is used as a verb. For example: “The news of his father's illness determined him to depart immediately.”
What is a short sentence with determine?
“The court has determined the cause.”
What does determine mean?
Determine means to set the boundaries or limits of.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: determine (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use determine in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/determine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.