From Middle French combiner, from Late Latin combīnāre, present active infinitive of combīnō, from Latin con- + bīnī.

• • enPR: kəm-bīn', IPA: /kəmˈbaɪn/
  • (British) IPA: /ˈkɒm.baɪn/
  • (America) enPR: käm'bīn, IPA: /ˈkɑm.baɪn/

combine (combines, present participle combining; simple past and past participle combined)

1. (transitive) To bring (two or more things or activities) together; to unite.

   Combine the milk and the hot water in a large bowl.

   I'm combining business and pleasure on this trip.

2. (transitive) To have two or more things or properties that function together.

   Joe combines the intelligence of a rock with the honesty of a politician.

3. (intransitive) To come together; to unite.

   two substances that easily combine

   • 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC ↗, (please specify the page number):

     You with your foes combine, / And seem your own destruction to design.

   • 1805, Walter Scott, “(please specify the page)”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC ↗:

     So sweet did harp and voice combine.

4. (card games) In the game of casino, to play a card which will take two or more cards whose aggregate number of pips equals those of the card played.
5. (obsolete) To bind; to hold by a moral tie.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     I am combined by a sacred vow.

• See synonyms at Thesaurus:coalesce.

• divide
• separate
• disunite

• French: combiner
• German: kombinieren, verbinden
• Italian: combinare, mischiare
• Portuguese: combinar
• Russian: комбини́ровать
• Spanish: combinar, juntar, unir

• German: vereinen
• Italian: abbinare, unire
• Portuguese: combinar
• Spanish: unir, juntar

combine (plural combines)

1. A combine harvester

   We can't finish harvesting because our combine is stuck in the mud.

   • 1976, The Wurzels, I Am A Cider Drinker:

     When those combine wheels stops turnin'
     And the hard days work is done
     Theres a pub around the corner
     It's the place we 'ave our fun

2. A combination
   1. Especially, a joint enterprise of whatever legal form for a purpose of business or in any way promoting the interests of the participants, sometimes with monopolistic or fraudulent intentions.

      The telecom companies were accused of having formed an illegal combine in order to hike up the network charges.

   2. An industrial conglomeration in a socialist country, particularly in the former Soviet bloc.

      Synonyms: kombinat

   3. (art) An artwork falling between painting and sculpture, having objects embedded into a painted surface.
3. (American football) A Test match in which applicants play in the hope of earning a position on a professional football team.

• Italian: kombinat, combinat
• Russian: комбина́т

From combine, referring to the merger and purchase of various underground railway, tram and bus companies in London, combining them into one organisation.

• (British) IPA: /ˈkɒm.baɪn/

1. (colloquial) London Underground