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transform

transformed; transforming; transforms

When you transform you change from one thing or state to another. Picture a transformer that changes from a robot to a car. Simple, right?

Caterpillars transform into butterflies, a forest is transformed by a snowfall, and a city can be transformed by a new government or a changing economy. Transform means a big change in appearance or in essence. The Internet has transformed how we live our day-to-day lives, but you wouldn't say that moving a throw pillow has transformed your living room.

Definitions of transform
  1. verb
    change or alter in form, appearance, or nature
    “This experience transformed her completely”
    “She transformed the clay into a beautiful sculpture”
    synonyms: transmute, transubstantiate
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    types:
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    transubstantiate
    change (the Eucharist bread and wine) into the body and blood of Christ
    sorcerise, sorcerize
    transform or change by means of sorcery
    stalinise, stalinize
    transform in accordance with Stalin's policies
    destalinise, destalinize
    counteract the effects and policies of Stalinism
    process, work, work on
    shape, form, or improve a material
    hot-work
    roll, press, forge, or shape (metal) while hot
    cold work, coldwork
    shape (metal) without heat
    overwork
    use too much
    make over, retread, rework
    use again in altered form
    rack
    work on a rack
    tool
    work with a tool
    till
    work land as by ploughing, harrowing, and manuring, in order to make it ready for cultivation
    type of:
    alter, change, modify
    cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
  2. verb
    change in outward structure or looks
    “He transformed into a monster”
    synonyms: metamorphose, transmute
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    aurify
    transform into gold
    become, turn
    undergo a change or development
    boil down, come down, reduce
    be the essential element
    choke, suffocate
    become stultified, suppressed, or stifled
    nucleate
    form into a nucleus
    add up, amount, come
    develop into
    type of:
    change
    undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
  3. verb
    convert (one form of energy) to another
    transform energy to light”
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    type of:
    alter, change, modify
    cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
  4. verb
    change from one form or medium into another
    synonyms: translate
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    types:
    metricise, metricize
    express in the metric system
    diagonalise, diagonalize
    transform a matrix to a diagonal matrix
    type of:
    alter, change, modify
    cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
  5. verb
    change (a bacterial cell) into a genetically distinct cell by the introduction of DNA from another cell of the same or closely related species
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    type of:
    alter, change, modify
    cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
  6. verb
    subject to a mathematical transformation
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    type of:
    alter, change, modify
    cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
  7. verb
    increase or decrease (an alternating current or voltage)
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    type of:
    alter, change, modify
    cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘transform'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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