Library / English Dictionary

PERFORM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Carry out or perform an action

Example:

she did a little dance

Synonyms:

do; execute; perform

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "perform"):

make (perform or carry out)

conduct; direct; lead (lead, as in the performance of a composition)

interpret; render (give an interpretation or rendition of)

ad-lib; extemporise; extemporize; improvise; improvize (perform without preparation)

practice; practise; rehearse (engage in a rehearsal (of))

appear (appear as a character on stage or appear in a play, etc.)

star (be the star in a performance)

premier; premiere (perform a work for the first time)

churn out (perform in a mechanical way)

click off (perform or finish an action rapidly)

carry (sing or play against other voices or parts)

pipe up (begin to play or sing)

declaim; recite (recite in elocution)

serenade (sing and play for somebody)

cut corners (do something the cheapest or easiest way)

stunt (perform a stunt or stunts)

cut (perform or carry out)

blaze away (perform (an acting passage) brilliantly and rapidly)

scamp (perform hastily and carelessly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

performance (the act of performing; of doing something successfully; using knowledge as distinguished from merely possessing it)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give a performance (of something)

Example:

We performed a popular Gilbert and Sullivan opera

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "perform" is one way to...):

re-create (create anew)

Domain category:

performing arts (arts or skills that require public performance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "perform"):

conduct (lead musicians in the performance of)

play (play on an instrument)

act; play; playact; roleplay (perform on a stage or theater)

audition; try out (perform in order to get a role)

debut (make one's debut)

play (perform on a certain location)

concertise; concertize (give concerts; perform in concerts)

give (perform for an audience)

barnstorm (tour the country making political speeches, giving lectures, or presenting plays)

barnstorm (appear at county fairs and carnivals as a stunt flier and parachute jumper)

interlude (perform an interlude)

grandstand (perform ostentatiously in order to impress the audience and with an eye to the applause)

solo (perform a piece written for a single instrument)

play out (perform or be performed to the end)

underperform (perform too rarely)

sight-read; sightread (perform music from a score without having seen the score before)

rap (perform rap music)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Did he perform his major works over a short period of time?

Derivation:

performance (a dramatic or musical entertainment)

performer (an entertainer who performs a dramatic or musical work for an audience)

performing (the performance of a part or role in a drama)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Perform a function

Example:

Who will perform the wedding?

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "perform" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "perform"):

church (perform a special church rite or service for)

officiate (act in an official capacity in a ceremony or religious ritual, such as a wedding)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Get (something) done

Example:

I did my job

Synonyms:

do; perform

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "perform" is one way to...):

accomplish; action; carry out; carry through; execute; fulfil; fulfill (put in effect)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "perform"):

overachieve (perform better or achieve a greater degree of success than expected)

turn (accomplish by rotating)

underachieve; underperform (perform less well or with less success than expected)

misdo (do wrongly or improperly)

do one's best; give full measure; give one's best; go all out (perform a task as well as possible)

ply (apply oneself diligently)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Credits

 Context examples: 

And how do people perform that ceremony of parting, Jane?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A qualitative or quantitative analysis performed to determine the amount of a particular constituent in a sample or the biological or pharmacological potency of a drug.

(Assay, NCI Thesaurus)

A specific type of newborn examination performed to allow for early detection of disease(s) and/or disorder(s).

(Newborn Screening, NCI Thesaurus)

Do not think that I shall be slow to perform this sacrifice.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

You were under this test because VIPs believed in you, but they wanted to see how you performed under pressure.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

They also performed further assays to test the ability of these 10 polymers to support chondrocyte proliferation to produce cartilage matrix in long-term cultures.

(Scientists design a new hydrogel that helps regenerate cartilage, University of Granada)

And it was all done long ago; it was work performed, I tell you, when you spat upon me as the dirt under your feet.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Then I started to go round the house to see that all was secure—a duty which I usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform myself that night.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Did you tell any one that you had this special task to perform?

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Surgery performed on any part of the abdominal region of the body.

(Abdominal Surgical Procedure, NCI Thesaurus)