invent
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ɪnˈvɛnt/
Verb

invent (invents, present participle inventing; past and past participle invented)

  1. To design a new process or mechanism.
    After weeks of hard work, I invented a new way to alphabetize matchbooks.
  2. To create something fictional for a particular purpose.
    I knew I had to invent an excuse, and quickly.
    We need a name to put in this form, so let's just invent one.
    Synonyms: make up
  3. (obsolete) To come upon; to find; to discover.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.vi:
      Far off he wonders, what them makes so glad, / If Bacchus merry fruit they did inuent [...].
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