consult
Americanverb (used with object)
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to seek advice or information from; ask guidance from.
Consult your lawyer before signing the contract.
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to refer to for information.
Consult your dictionary for the spelling of the word.
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to have regard for (a person's interest, convenience, etc.) in making plans.
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Obsolete. to meditate, plan, or contrive.
verb (used without object)
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to consider or deliberate; take counsel; confer (usually followed bywith ).
He consulted with his doctor.
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to give professional or expert advice; serve as consultant.
noun
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a consultation.
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Archaic. a secret meeting, especially one for seditious purposes.
verb
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to ask advice from (someone); confer with (someone)
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(tr) to refer to for information
to consult a map
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(tr) to have regard for (a person's feelings, interests, etc) in making decisions or plans; consider
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(intr) to make oneself available to give professional advice, esp at scheduled times and for a fee
Related Words
Consult, confer imply talking over a situation or a subject with someone to decide points in doubt. To consult is to seek from a presumably qualified person or source advice, opinion, etc.: to consult an authority. To confer is to exchange views: The partners conferred concerning their business.
Other Word Forms
- consultable adjective
- consulter noun
- preconsult verb
- reconsult verb
- unconsulted adjective
Etymology
Origin of consult
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French consulter, from Latin consultāre “to deliberate,” literally, “to advise repeatedly,” from consulere “to advise, consider, seek advice from”; consul
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.