compare
[ kuh m-pair ]
/ kəmˈpɛər /
verb (used with object), com·pared, com·par·ing.
verb (used without object), com·pared, com·par·ing.
noun
comparison: Her beauty is beyond compare.
Idioms for compare
compare notes.
note(def 32).
Origin of compare
usage note for compare
The traditional rule about which preposition to use after
compare states that
compare should be followed by
to when it points out likenesses or similarities between two apparently dissimilar persons or things:
She compared his handwriting to knotted string.
Compare should be followed by
with, the rule says, when it points out similarities or differences between two entities of the same general class:
The critic compared the paintings in the exhibit with magazine photographs. This rule is by no means always observed, however, even in formal speech and writing. The usual practice is to employ
to for likenesses between members of different classes:
A language may be compared to a living organism. But when the comparison is between members of the same category, both
to and
with are used:
The article compares the Chicago of today with (or
to )
the Chicago of the 1890s. Following the past participle
compared, either
to or
with is used regardless of whether differences or similarities are stressed or whether the things compared belong to the same or different classes:
Compared with (or to ) the streets of 18th-century London, New York's streets are models of cleanliness and order.
OTHER WORDS FROM compare
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH compare
compare contrast (see usage note at the current entry)Words nearby compare
Example sentences from the Web for compare
British Dictionary definitions for compare
compare
/ (kəmˈpɛə) /
verb
noun
comparison or analogy (esp in the phrase beyond compare)
Derived forms of compare
comparer, nounWord Origin for compare
C15: from Old French
comparer, from Latin
comparāre to couple together, match, from
compar equal to one another, from
com- together +
par equal; see
par
Idioms and Phrases with compare
compare