Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use own in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, verb, noun

Own means belonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using the name of. Often marks a possessive determiner as reflexive, referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence. Example: “When we move into the new house, the kids will each have their own bedroom.”

Examples of own by meaning

adjectiveBelonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using...

  • But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27

adjectiveNot shared.

  • When we move into the new house, the kids will each have their own bedroom.

verbTo have rightful possession of (property, goods or capital); to have legal title to; to acquire a property or asset.

  • I own this car.

verbTo have recognized political sovereignty over a place, territory, as distinct from the ordinary connotation of property...

  • The United States owns Point Roberts by the terms of the Treaty of Oregon.

verbTo defeat or embarrass; to overwhelm.

  • I will own my enemies.
  • If he wins, he will own you.
  • All the ‘Milo OWNS stupid feminist’ type of videos today are made with much the same style as the new atheist videos that were equally numerous on YouTube a few years before with titles like ‘HITCHSLAP.2017, Angela Nagle, “Basic bitches, normies and the lamestream”, in Kill All Normies, Zero Books, →ISBN

verbTo admit, concede, grant, allow; not to deny.

  • And they almost regretted—though none of them would have owned to such callousness—that their father was soon coming back.1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 5, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC

verbTo acknowledge.

  • I must own that I have been at fault all this time.

verbTo proudly acknowledge; to not be ashamed or embarrassed of.

  • I'm owning my girly looks with cute short pink hair!"2014 April 17, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Thursday, Apr 17, 2014

More sentences with own

  • Nobody told me to do it. I did it of my own accord.From the entry accord
  • Jonny always bots off me. I just wish he’d get his own pack.From the entry bot
  • She did it all on her own like a big girl.From the entry big
  • Stand up, walk to the refrigerator, and get your own snack.From the entry stand
  • I'm tired of picking up after you. Why can't you clean your own messes?From the entry after
  • King John cast his predecessor in a negative light to deflect criticism of his own questionable decisions.From the entry cast
  • You may not move a piece to a square already occupied by one of your own pieces.From the entry square
  • She draws her subject matter from the events of her own life.From the entry draw
  • The president was elbowed out of power by members of her own party.From the entry elbow
  • He owned several local businesses and was a face around town.From the entry face
  • He once owned a painting of the house, which painting would later be stolen.From the entry which
  • He dug an elbow into my ribs and guffawed at his own joke.From the entry dig
  • If the Bruins ice the puck, the faceoff will be in their own zone.From the entry ice
  • Look at the sap mowing our lawn while we pretend our own lawnmower is broken.From the entry sap
  • Once I didn't drive a big car, but now I own an all-terrain 4WD.From the entry once
  • After three weeks in bed he was finally able to sit up under his own steam.From the entry steam
  • Wow, did you plant this entire garden on your own? You really must have a green thumb.From the entry green thumb
  • The best way to rob a bank is to own one.From the entry rob
  • Joe apprenticed three different photographers before setting up his own studio.From the entry apprentice
  • At this point, she seized the occasion to make her own observation.From the entry occasion
  • If I travelled back in time to witness my own birth, would there be two mes?From the entry mes
  • I have been toying with the idea of starting my own business.From the entry toy
  • Most people in that region practise their own form of paganism.From the entry paganism
  • Various neopagan movements have arisen, each advancing its own form of paganism. Some are monotheist.From the entry paganism
  • I own a small parcel of land between the refinery and the fish cannery.From the entry parcel
  • John found that starting up his own business empowered him greatly in social situations.From the entry empower
  • I would rather figure things out on my own than ask that peevish librarian for help.From the entry peevish
  • This school used to be really friendly, but now everyone keeps to their own cliques.From the entry clique
  • The pith of my idea is that people should choose their own work hours.From the entry pith
  • Bob's a real video-game freak. He owns every games console of the last ten years.From the entry freak

Meaning of own

  1. adjective Belonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using the name of. Often marks a possessive determiner as reflexive, referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence.
  2. adjective Not shared.
  3. adjective Peculiar, domestic.

Full definition of own

Questions about own in a sentence

How do you use own in a sentence?
Own is used as an adjective, verb and noun. For example: “When we move into the new house, the kids will each have their own bedroom.”
What is a short sentence with own?
“I own this car.”
What does own mean?
Own means belonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using the name of. Often marks a possessive determiner as reflexive, referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: own (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.

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