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become

[ bih-kuhm ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used without object)

became become, becoming

to come, change, or grow to be (as specified):
He became tired.
to come into being.

verb (used with object)

became become, becoming

to be attractive on; befit in appearance; look well on:
That gown becomes you.
to be suitable or necessary to the dignity, situation, or responsibility of:
conduct that becomes an officer.

become

/ ��ɪˈ��ʌ�� /

verb

copula to come to be; develop or grow into
he became a monster
foll by of; usually used in a question to fall to or be the lot (of); happen (to)
what became of him?
tr (of clothes, etc) to enhance the appearance of (someone); suit
that dress becomes you
tr to be appropriate; befit
it ill becomes you to complain

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Word History and Origins

Origin of become¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English becumen, Old English becuman “to come about, happen”; cognate with Dutch bekomen, German bekommen, Gothic biqiman. See be-, come

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Word History and Origins

Origin of become¹

Old English becuman to happen; related to Old High German biqueman to come to, Gothic biquiman to appear suddenly

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

become of, to happen to; be the fate of:
�� will become of him?

More idioms and phrases containing become

In addition to the idiom beginning with become , also see idioms beginning with get .

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

After more than 20 years living undocumented in the U.S., the Mexico-born activist became a naturalized citizen last May.

From

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre - who was on course to become prime minister three months ago when his party held a double-digit lead in the polls - lost his seat in Carleton, Ontario to the Liberals.

From

They became creative partners when Cooper’s mother hired Burke to direct a video for her son’s bar mitzvah.

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Statistics for human cases have remained unchanged since the start of the year, when an elderly resident of Louisiana became the first human to die of H5N1 bird flu in the United States.

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“Turning Point: The Vietnam War” proves that the more we piece together, the clearer the deception's atrocious expanse becomes.

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Related Words

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

becloud become of

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