Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To grow or come to be: became more knowledgeable; will become clearer in the morning.
- v. To be appropriate or suitable to: "It would not become me . . . to interfere with parties” ( Jonathan Swift).
- v. To show to advantage; look good with: The new suit becomes you.
- become of To be the fate of; happen to: What has become of the old garden?
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To come; arrive; betake one's self; go.
- To come about; come into being; pass from non-existence; arise.
- To change or pass from one state of existence to another; come to be something different; come or grow to be: as, the boy rapidly becomes the man.
- To be fit or proper; be decorous or praiseworthy.
- To be the fate of; be the end of; be the final or subsequent condition: after what: as, what will become of our commerce? what will become of us? It applies to place as well as condition: What has become of my friend? that is, where is he? as well as, what is his condition?
- To suit or be suitable to; be congruous with; befit; accord with in character or circumstances; be worthy of or proper to: rarely said of persons.
- To befit in appearance; suit esthetically; grace or adorn.
- [Formerly becomed was sometimes used as the past participle.
Wiktionary
- v. To arrive, come (to a place). [9th-18th c.]
- v. To begin to be; to come to be; to turn into. [from 12th c.]
- v. To look attractive on, be suitable for. [from 14th c.]
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To pass from one state to another; to enter into some state or condition, by a change from another state, or by assuming or receiving new properties or qualities, additional matter, or a new character.
- v. To come; to get.
- v. To suit or be suitable to; to be congruous with; to befit; to accord with, in character or circumstances; to be worthy of, or proper for; to cause to appear well; -- said of persons and things.
WordNet 3.0
- v. enhance the appearance of
- v. undergo a change or development
- v. enter or assume a certain state or condition
- v. come into existence
Etymologies
- Middle English bicomen, from Old English becuman; see gwā- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“I have learned that despite our hardships and our sorrow, we can still become amazing people more than that we can become well saints I guess.”
The Story of Little Sancho - Chapter 4: The man, his salvation and his final lesson.
“The perpetuity of the transformations or the power to become, whenever it pleased, the form it desired; was everywhere recalled to the mind of the people of Ancient Egypt, by the symbolic figure of the scarab, the hieroglyph of the words: _To become_, _to be_, _to be existing_, as also creator, an amulet of power above all others.”
“And this potentiality is thus explained: When a woman conceives, a Soul is immediately sent into the embryo which is to become the infant, in which Soul are then, potentially, all the members and veins of the body, which afterward, from that potency of the Soul, _become_ in the human body of the child to be born.”
Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
“A spokesperson for said the always-chic Moss will help the label "become an aspirational brand.”
“Has his name become synonymous with a cheat or a curse word-or is he just a human being just like anyone else?”
The Huffington Post: Dr. Dahlia Keen: What is a "Schwarzenegger"?
“It was such a good idea that his name become immortal: all over the country, thousands of lawyers are Shepardizing their cases every day.”
“You mention the term become FREE SEX CHAT NOW the full fledged members.”
“In fact, so common did the term become that I have heard her speaking of the time we salvaged the town of V----.”
“The higher the type of organism the more comprehensive must the term become, not only quantitatively but qualitatively.”
“Has the label become a little overwhelmed with this release also?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘become’.
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[Open] Stative Verbs
Definition Many of these can also be dynamic.
Please just list bare infinitives to keep the list wieldy. Perhaps a tag (e.g., “stative”) would be sufficient for participles.)act, amaze, appear, appreciate, astonish, become, believe, belong, cost, feel, get, hate and 53 more...
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be-
around; completely; about; away
beset, besmirch, besmear, bereave, bemoan, befriend, becloud, belabor, become

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