Library / English Dictionary

VARY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: varied   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence

Example:

The supermarket's selection of vegetables varies according to the season

Synonyms:

alter; change; vary

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

break (vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity)

honeycomb (make full of cavities, like a honeycomb)

narrow; narrow down; specialise; specialize (become more focused on an area of activity or field of study)

diversify; radiate (spread into new habitats and produce variety or variegate)

branch out; broaden; diversify (vary in order to spread risk or to expand)

take in (make (clothes) smaller)

let out; widen (make (clothes) larger)

accommodate; adapt (make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose)

move (go or proceed from one point to another)

avianise; avianize (to modify microorganisms by repeated culture in the developing chick embryo)

modulate (vary the frequency, amplitude, phase, or other characteristic of (electromagnetic waves))

crackle (to become, or to cause to become, covered with a network of small cracks)

alternate; jump (go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

variable (liable to or capable of change)

variable (marked by diversity or difference)

variant (something a little different from others of the same type)

variant (differing from a norm or standard)

variation (something a little different from others of the same type)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make something more diverse and varied

Example:

Vary the menu

Synonyms:

motley; variegate; vary

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

diversify (make (more) diverse)

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

checker; chequer (variegate with different colors, shades, or patterns)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

variable (marked by diversity or difference)

variant (exhibiting variation and change)

variation (the act of changing or altering something slightly but noticeably from the norm or standard)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be at variance with; be out of line with

Synonyms:

depart; deviate; diverge; vary

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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

differ (be different)

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

aberrate (diverge or deviate from the straight path; produce aberration)

aberrate (diverge from the expected)

belie; contradict; negate (be in contradiction with)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

variation ((astronomy) any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite (especially a perturbation of the earth's moon))

variation ((biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration)

variation (an activity that varies from a norm or standard)

variant (differing from a norm or standard)

variant (an event that departs from expectations)

variance (an activity that varies from a norm or standard)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be subject to change in accordance with a variable

Example:

His moods vary depending on the weather

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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

differ (be different)

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

co-vary (vary in the same time period (of two random variables))

drift (vary or move from a fixed point or course)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

variable (liable to or capable of change)

variable (marked by diversity or difference)

variant (differing from a norm or standard)

variant (exhibiting variation and change)

variate (a variable quantity that is random)

variation (an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change)

variation ((astronomy) any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite (especially a perturbation of the earth's moon))

variation (the angle (at a particular location) between magnetic north and true north)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The amount of BPA the FDA considers acceptable varies based on the product.

(Humans exposed to far more hormone-disrupting chemicals than thought, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

She listened with great attention, and with a face that often changed, but had the same purpose in all its varying expressions.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Symptoms can vary, depending upon which organs are affected.

(Amyloidosis, NIH)

Tumors display varying degrees of glandular differentiation.

(Adenocarcinoma of the Mouse Intestinal Tract, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

The clinical course varies according to the morphologic type.

(non-Hodgkin lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)

The symptoms of brain diseases vary widely depending on the specific problem.

(Brain Diseases, NIH)

You will remember, Watson, he remarked one afternoon, that there is a single common point of resemblance in the varying reports which have reached us.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Treatment varies depending on the cause of pain.

(Pain, NIH)

The far and the near must be relative, and depend on many varying circumstances.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

She was back again in an instant, however, in another of her varying moods.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)