English
convert
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈkɒn.vəːt/, [ˈkʰɒɱ.vəːt]
  • (GA) enPR: kŏn'vûrt, IPA: /ˈkɑn.vəɹt/, [ˈkʰɑɱ.vɚt]
  • (RP) IPA: /kənˈvɛət/, [kʰə̥ɱˈvɛət]
  • (GA) enPR: kənvûrt', IPA: /kənˈvɛɹt/, [kʰə̥ɱˈvɚt]
Verb

convert (converts, present participle converting; past and past participle converted)

  1. (transitive) To transform or change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product.
    A kettle converts water into steam.
    • if the whole atmosphere were converted into water
    • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398 ↗, [https://archive.org/stream/paradiseregaindp00milt_0#page/{}/mode/1up page 91]:
      That ſtill leſſens / The ſorrow, and converts it nigh to joy.
  2. (transitive) To change (something) from one use, function, or purpose to another.
    He converted his garden into a tennis court.
    • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326 ↗:
      “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, […].
  3. (transitive) To induce (someone) to adopt a particular religion, faith, ideology or belief (see also sense 11).
    They converted her to Roman Catholicism on her deathbed.
    • No attempt was made to convert the Moslems.
  4. (transitive) To exchange for something of equal value.
    We converted our pounds into euros.
  5. (transitive) To express (a quantity) in alternative units.
  6. (transitive) To express (a unit of measurement) in terms of another; to furnish a mathematical formula by which a quantity, expressed in the former unit, may be given in the latter.
    How do you convert feet into metres?
  7. (transitive, legal) To appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully; to commit the common law tort of conversion.
  8. (ambitransitive, rugby football) To score extra points after (a try) by completing a conversion.
  9. (transitive or intransitive, soccer) To score (especially a penalty kick).
  10. (intransitive, ten-pin bowling) To score a spare.
  11. (intransitive) To undergo a conversion of religion, faith or belief (see also sense 3).
    We’ve converted to Methodism.
  12. (intransitive) To become converted.
    The chair converts into a bed.
  13. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to turn; to turn.
    • 1600, Ben Jonson, Cynthia's Revels
      O, which way shall I first convert myself?
  14. (transitive, logic) To change (one proposition) into another, so that what was the subject of the first becomes the predicate of the second.
  15. (transitive, obsolete) To turn into another language; to translate.
    • 1609, Ben Jonson, The Masque of Queens
      which story […] Catullus more elegantly converted
  16. (transitive, cricket) To increase one's individual score, especially from 50 runs (a fifty) to 100 runs (a century), or from a century to a double or triple century.
    • 2006, BBC, Gillespie hails 'fairytale' knock ↗:
      Gillespie was reminded he had promised to join team-mate Matthew Hayden in a nude lap of the ground if he converted his century into a double.
  17. (intransitive, marketing) To perform the action that an online advertisement is intended to induce; to reach the point of conversion.
    Each time a user clicks on one of your adverts, you will be charged the bid amount whether the user converts or not.
Antonyms Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • Russian: превраща́ться
  • Spanish: (reflexive) convertir
Noun

convert (plural converts)

  1. A person who has converted to a religion.
    They were all converts to Islam.
    • 2004, Ted Jones, The French Riviera: A Literary Guide for Travellers, Tauris Parke Paperbacks (2007), ISBN 9781845114558, chapter 3, gbooks IeTGSDuFU6YC:
      While still in this relationship, Greene, a convert to Roman Catholicism at 23, was asked to be godfather to Catherine Walston, a 30-year-old married woman, at her own conversion.
  2. A person who is now in favour of something that he or she previously opposed or disliked.
    I never really liked broccoli before, but now that I've tasted it the way you cook it, I'm a convert!
  3. (Canadian football) The equivalent of a conversion in rugby
Translations Translations

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