Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To select from a number of possible alternatives; decide on and pick out.
  • intransitive verb To prefer above others.
  • intransitive verb To determine or decide.
  • intransitive verb To make a choice; make a selection.
  • idiom (cannot choose but) Can only do; cannot do otherwise.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To select from two or more; make a choice of in preference to another or others, or to something else.
  • To prefer and decide: with an infinitive as object: as, he chose to make the attack.
  • To prefer to have; be inclined or have a preference for.
  • Synonyms Choose, Prefer, Elect, Select, fix upon, pitch upon, adopt. Choose is the most general of these words, but always represents an act of the will; it is the taking of one or some where all are not wanted or cannot be had. Choice may be founded upon preference or modified by necessity. Prefer represents a verdict of the judgment or a state of the inclination; it emphasizes more than does choose the leaving of the rest: he who prefers apples to oranges will choose apples when he has the opportunity of choice; one may by inclination prefer to work at night, but, on grounds of health, choose to work only by day. Elect has an exact use in theology; its principal use otherwise is to express the choice of persons, by ballot or otherwise, for office, membership in societies, etc.: as, to be elected alderman or treasurer; to elect certain studies in a college is to choose them formally. Select represents a careful, discriminating choice.
  • To elect; make a choice; decide.
  • To prefer; desire; wish.— To have one's choice; do as one pleases.
  • To direct one's steps; choose one's way.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To make choice of; to select; to take by way of preference from two or more objects offered; to elect.
  • transitive verb colloq. To wish; to desire; to prefer.
  • transitive verb See under Side.
  • intransitive verb To make a selection; to decide.
  • intransitive verb To do otherwise.
  • intransitive verb must necessarily.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The act of choosing; selection.
  • noun The power, right, or privilege of choosing; election.
  • noun Scope for choice.
  • verb To elect.
  • verb To pick.
  • verb To decide to act in a certain way.
  • conjunction mathematics The binomial coefficient of the previous and following number.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb see fit or proper to act in a certain way; decide to act in a certain way
  • verb select as an alternative over another
  • verb pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English chesen, from Old English cēosan; see geus- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English chose, chos, chooce, from Middle English chosen ("to choose"). see above. Cognate with Scots chose ("choosing, choice, selection").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English chosen, chesen, from Old English ċēosan ("to choose, seek out, select, elect, decide, test, accept, settle for, approve"), from Proto-Germanic *keusanan (“to taste, choose”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- (“to taste, choose, enjoy”). Cognate with Scots chose, chese ("to choose"), North Frisian kese ("to choose"), West Frisian kieze ("to choose"), Dutch kiezen ("to choose"), German kiesen ("to choose"), Danish kyse ("to choose"), Norwegian kjose ("to choose"), Swedish tjusa ("to charm, allure"), Icelandic kjósa ("to choose, vote, elect"), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (kiusan, "to test"), Latin gustō ("taste, sample", v).

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Examples

  • I actually consider these games more interesting than those that only allow the player to do “good”, and while I typically choose to follow the “good” path, I like that I had to actually *choose* to follow it.

    Miriam Ruiz 2008

  • It may be true that we can act as we choose, but can we _choose_?

    Short Studies on Great Subjects James Anthony Froude 1856

  • Thus, in "I may write if I choose," "may write" is by some classified as in the potential mood, but in reality the phrase _I may write_ is an indicative one while the second clause, _if I choose_, is the expression of a condition upon which, not my liberty to write, depends, but my actual writing.

    How to Speak and Write Correctly Joseph Devlin

  • For superdelegates, most of whom are active politicians, to choose is to lose the support of either the Obamaniacs or the Hillary-ites in their state or district.

    And Speaking of Superdelegates - Swampland - TIME.com 2008

  • * One free wordpress blog setup + one year of free hosting; user will supply his/her own domain name and choose from a wide range of themes - from badlittlemonkey and rintrahroars

    Raffle items so far! ultra_lilac 2009

  • One free wordpress blog setup + one year of free hosting; user will supply his/her own domain name and choose from a wide range of themes - from badlittlemonkey and rintrahroars: tonithegreat!

    Tew's Day! yuki_onna 2009

  • Beautiful wreathes made of fragrant greens, lights twinkling in a multitude of colors, ornaments glittering, Christmas stockings … you can choose from a variety of unique designs.

    26 Christmas Decorating Ideas for Your Home 2009

  • Customers can choose from a selection of products including olives, cheeses, cold meats and fish.

    Marks & Spencer bestsellers Julia Kollewe 2010

  • Beautiful wreathes made of fragrant greens, lights twinkling in a multitude of colors, ornaments glittering, Christmas stockings … you can choose from a variety of unique designs.

    34 Great Christmas Wreath Decorating Ideas 2009

  • These being said, you can choose from a variety of upholstery fabrics and acrylic, wood, or steel legs.

    Floating Globe 2009

Comments

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  • I've got one friend

    laying across from me

    I did not choose him

    he did not choose me

    we've got no chance of recovery

    joy and hospital

    joy and misery

    January 31, 2007