INVENT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Invent

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/ɪnvˈɛnt/ Listen

verb

Invent v. t. (past & past part. invented; pres. part. inventing)

To come or light upon; to meet; to find. (Obs.) "And vowed never to return again, Till him alive or dead she did invent."

To discover, as by study or inquiry; to find out; to devise; to contrive or produce for the first time; applied commonly to the discovery of some serviceable mode, instrument, or machine. "Thus first Necessity invented stools."

To frame by the imagination; to fabricate mentally; to forge; in a good or a bad sense; as, to invent the machinery of a poem; to invent a falsehood. "Whate'er his cruel malice could invent." "He had invented some circumstances, and put the worst possible construction on others."

Synonyms: To discover; contrive; devise; frame; design; fabricate; concoct; elaborate. See Discover.

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Etymology of 'Invent'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Invent" Quotes from Famous Books

... to invent a pretext for drawing her apart from the others, she calmly ordered Van Dyke to relinquish his place on the couch beside her ...

— Green Fancy • George Barr McCutcheon

... the signs of wretchedness out of my pale face. But they never knew the story, and they could only guess at what made me wretched. It is amazing (again) what power there is in silence, and how much you can keep in your hands if you do not open them. People may surmise—may invent, but they cannot know your secret unless you tell it to them, and their imaginings take so many forms, the multitude of things that they create blot out all definite design. Thus every one at R—— ...

— Richard Vandermarck • Miriam Coles Harris

... invent intellectual pastimes in America?" she asked, looking at me with a smile. "I thought ...

— In the Courts of Memory 1858-1875. • L. de Hegermann-Lindencrone

... beside the afflicted, but ever haughty, countess. They did not converse, for the latter rarely spoke, even in answer to Bertha's questions, and Bertha could invent no mode of arousing ...

— Fairy Fingers - A Novel • Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie

... proprietor, was the real owner of the circus. 'We needn't say no more about the leopards—for a bit. But I'll tell you what. 'Ee can do tricks with little Mike, the new pony, and the monkeys. We'll make up a sort of little performance a-purpose for 'im and them. I must invent a little somethink that ...

— The Captain's Bunk - A Story for Boys • M. B. Manwell

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