study
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈstʌdi/
Verb

study

  1. (usually, academic) To review materials already learned in order to make sure one does not forget them, usually in preparation for an examination.
    Students are expected to start studying for final exams in March.
    I need to study my biology notes.
  2. (academic) To take a course or courses on a subject.
    I study medicine at the university.
  3. To acquire knowledge on a subject with the intention of applying it in practice.
    Biologists study living things.
    In 2015, scientists found that 82 percent of glaciers studied in China had decreased in size.
  4. To look at minutely.
    He studied the map in preparation for the hike.
  5. To fix the mind closely upon a subject; to dwell upon anything in thought; to muse; to ponder.
    • July 10, 1732, Jonathan Swift, letter to Mr. Gay and The Duchess of Queensberry
      I found a moral first, and studied for a fable.
  6. To endeavor diligently; to be zealous.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, 1 Thessalonians 4:11 ↗:
      And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you […]
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Noun

study

  1. Mental effort to acquire knowledge or learning.
    The study of languages is fascinating.
    • 1661, John Fell (bishop), The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond ↗
      During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]
    • 1699, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, Heads designed for an essay on conversations ↗
      Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
  2. The act of studying or examining; examination.
    I made a careful study of his sister.
  3. Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any object of attentive consideration.
    • The Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament, are her daily study.
    • 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify ), London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], OCLC 960856019 ↗:
  4. A room in a house intended for reading and writing; traditionally the private room of the male head of household.
    Father spends all his time in the study poring over manuscripts.
    • his cheery little study
  5. An artwork made in order to practise or demonstrate a subject or technique.
    a study of heads or of hands for a figure picture
  6. The human face, bearing an expression which the observer finds amusingly typical of a particular emotion or state of mind.
    Geoffrey's face was a study.
    Geoffrey's face was a study in amazement [or in bewilderment, irritation, distress etc.]
  7. (music) A piece for special practice; an étude.
  8. (academic) An academic publication.
    That new study on noncommutative symmetries looks promising.
  9. One who commits a theatrical part to memory.
  10. (obsolete) A state of mental perplexity or worried thought.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:3.18?rgn=div2;view=fulltext chapter xx], in Le Morte Darthur, book I:
      wel said the kynge thow mayst take myn hors by force but and I myȝte preue the whether thow were better on horsbak or I / wel said the knyght seke me here whan thow wolt and here nygh this wel thow shalt fynde me / and soo passyd on his weye / thenne the kyng sat in a study and bad his men fetche his hors as faste as euer they myghte
  11. (archaic) Thought, as directed to a specific purpose; one's concern.
    My study was to avoid disturbing her.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book 10”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:
      Just men they seemd, and all thir study bent / To worship God aright, and know his works.
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