Definition of "compare"

compare

/kəmˈpɛɚ/

verb
third-person singular simple present compares, present participle comparing, simple past and past participle compared
1. (transitive) To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things ["to compare X with Y"]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it similar to Y or different from Y.
  Quotations
  Sophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's.
  1922, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
  Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.
  2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193
2. (transitive) To declare two things to be similar in some respect ["to compare X to Y"].
  Quotations
  Solon compared the people unto the sea, and orators and counsellors to the winds; for that the sea would be calm and quiet if the winds did not trouble it.
  1625, Francis [Bacon], Apophthegmes New and Old. […], London: […] Hanna Barret, and Richard Whittaker, […]
  And wordy attacks against slavery drew sneers from observers which were not altogether undeserved. The authors were compared to doctors who offered to a patient nothing more than invectives against the disease which consumed him.
  1963, C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd Revised edition, page 24
3. (transitive, grammar) To form the three degrees of comparison of (an adjective).
4. (intransitive) To be similar (often used in the negative).
  Quotations
  Shall pack-horses […] compare with Caesar's?
  c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene iv]
5. (obsolete) To get; to obtain.
  Quotations
  To fill his bags, and richesse to compare.
  1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, stanza 28
noun
countable and uncountable, plural compares
1. (uncountable) Comparison.
  Quotations
  His mighty Champion, ſtrong above compare,
  1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], page 38, line 557
  Their small galleys may not hold compare with our tall ships.
  a. 1687, Edmund Waller, To my Worth Friend Sir Thomas Higgons
2. (countable, programming) An instruction or command that compares two values or states.
  Quotations
  […] including addition and subtraction, memory operations, compares, shifts, logic operations, and condition operations.
  1998, International Conference on Computer Design: Proceedings, IEEE, page 490
  It is always advisable to run a compare between your source and target environments. This should highlight whether there are differences in the lengths of VARCHARs and then the differences can be corrected before you clone.
  2013, Paolo Bruni, Carlos Alberto Gomes da Silva Junior, Craig McKellar, Managing DB2 for z/OS Utilities with DB2 Tools Solution Packs
3. (uncountable, obsolete) Illustration by comparison; simile.
  Quotations
  Rhymes full of protest, of oath, and big compare.
  c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene ii]

Definition of "compare"

compare

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noun

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