Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To join or fasten together.
  • intransitive verb To associate or consider as related: synonym: join.
  • intransitive verb To join to or by means of a communications circuit.
  • intransitive verb To plug in (an electrical cord or device) to an outlet.
  • intransitive verb To become joined or united.
  • intransitive verb To be scheduled so as to provide continuing service, as between airplanes or buses.
  • intransitive verb To establish a rapport or relationship; relate.
  • intransitive verb Sports To hit or play a ball or puck successfully.
  • idiom (connect the dots) To draw connecting lines between a seemingly random arrangement of numbered dots so as to produce a picture or design.
  • idiom (connect the dots) To draw logical inferences connecting items of information to reveal something previously hidden or unknown.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make connection in time and place (with another train or boat): as, the boat connects with the train at Fall River.
  • To bind or fasten together; join or unite; conjoin; combine; associate closely: as, to connect ideas; the strait of Gibraltar connects the Mediterranean with the Atlantic.
  • To join, unite, or cohere.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To join, unite, or cohere; to have a close relation.
  • transitive verb To join, or fasten together, as by something intervening; to associate; to combine; to unite or link together; to establish a bond or relation between.
  • transitive verb To associate (a person or thing, or one's self) with another person, thing, business, or affair.
  • transitive verb To establish a communication link; -- used with with.
  • transitive verb To electronically or mechanically link (a device) to another device, or to link a device to a common communication line; -- used with with.
  • transitive verb (Mach.) a rod or bar joined to, and connecting, two or more moving parts; esp. a rod connecting a crank wrist with a beam, crosshead, piston rod, or piston, as in a steam engine.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive, of an object To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object.
  • verb intransitive, of two objects To join: to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to each other.
  • verb transitive, of an object To join (two other objects), or to join (one object) to (another object): to be a link between two objects, thereby attaching them to each other.
  • verb transitive, of a person To join (two other objects), or to join (one object) to (another object): to take one object and attach it to another.
  • verb To join an electrical or telephone line to a circuit or network.
  • verb To associate.
  • verb To make a travel connection; to switch from one means of transport to another as part of the same trip.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb land on or hit solidly
  • verb be or become joined or united or linked
  • verb join for the purpose of communication
  • verb establish a rapport or relationship
  • verb plug into an outlet
  • verb join by means of communication equipment
  • verb make a logical or causal connection
  • verb hit or play a ball successfully
  • verb connect, fasten, or put together two or more pieces
  • verb be scheduled so as to provide continuing service, as in transportation
  • verb establish communication with someone

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English connecten, from Latin cōnectere, connectere : cō-, com-, com- + nectere, to bind; see ned- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin cōnnectō ("fasten together"), from con ("together") + nectō ("bind, tie").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word connect.

Examples

  • $connect = mysql_connect ($hostname, $username, $password) or die ( "Error: could not connect to database");

    Blah, Blah! Technology 2009

  • $connect = mysql_connect ($hostname, $username, $password) or die ( "Error: could not connect to database");

    Blah, Blah! Technology 2009

  • The way he and the four soldiers connect is something of a miracle.

    James McBride discusses Song Yet Sung 2010

  • How they connect is both coincidental and haunting.

    *The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service — Recommended Series » Manga Worth Reading 2010

  • One site that does a quality job (however sobering and gloomy) of collecting dismal dots to connect, is so-called Mike Ruppert's so-called blog.

    Take me out to the shell game (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009

  • Though I'm not shy, I know many people are and giving them an opportunity to connect is absolutely priceless.

    Conventional Behaviour 2008

  • Cutler couldn't connect from the Bills '15-yard line on consecutive passes to the end zone to Brandon Stokley, sure made the Chargers happy.

    NFL Replay: Sparano-led Dolphins won't fold in the end 2008

  • The issue on which we seem to not connect is the polarized partisan political environment which lets thugs like Rove and Gingrich and Cheney work their wonders, such as putting the failed oil man, Bush, in the White House, in the first place.

    Balkinization 2006

  • The issue on which we seem to not connect is the polarized partisan political environment which lets thugs like Rove and Gingrich and Cheney work their wonders, such as putting the failed oil man, Bush, in the White House, in the first place.

    Balkinization 2006

  • The issue on which we seem to not connect is the polarized partisan political environment which lets thugs like Rove and Gingrich and Cheney work their wonders, such as putting the failed oil man, Bush, in the White House, in the first place.

    Balkinization 2006

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life."

    - website promo.

    I'm uneasy about connect being used intransitively. Or is it parasitically attached to the with that follows share?

    February 11, 2009