- to produce or bring into being; create
- (also intr) to produce (electricity), esp in a power station
- to produce (a substance) by a chemical process
- to provide a precise criterion or specification for membership in (a set)
- to trace or form by moving a point, line, or plane in a specific way: circular motion of a line generates a cylinder
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
gen•er•ate /ˈdʒɛnəˌreɪt/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object], -at•ed, -at•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to bring into existence;
produce;
originate:to generate ideas. - to create by a natural or chemical process:They used the waterfalls to generate power.
- to inspire:to generate enthusiasm.
gen•er•ate
( jen′ə rāt′),USA pronunciation v., -at•ed, -at•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
v.t.
- to bring into existence;
cause to be;
produce. - to create by a vital or natural process.
- to create and distribute vitally and profusely:He generates ideas that we all should consider. A good diplomat generates good will.
- to reproduce;
procreate. - Chemistryto produce by a chemical process.
- Mathematics
- to trace (a figure) by the motion of a point, straight line, or curve.
- to act as base for all the elements of a given set:The number 2 generates the set 2, 4, 8, 16.
- Linguisticsto produce or specify (a grammatical sentence or other construction or set of constructions) by the application of a rule or set of rules in a generative grammar.
v.i.
- to reproduce;
propagate.
- Latin generātus produced, past participle of generāre to beget; see genus
- Middle English 1350–1400
- 1. create, evolve, originate, engender, institute.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
generate /ˈdʒɛnəˌreɪt/ vb (mainly tr)
'generating' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
calorific
- CEGB
- electrophorus
- epicycle
- feeder
- flatulent
- -genous
- large language model
- neap tide
- polyphase
- powerhouse
- power station
- pump-and-dump
- screensaver
- society
- spring tide
- thermal
- thermopile
- three-phase
- transmitter
- two-phase
- water power
- audio response unit
- bootstrap
- breath
- cathode-ray tube
- circuit
- dim-out
- echogenic
- fire-tube boiler
- foam glass
- generation
- ground-fault interrupter
- heat
- homogonous
- microwave oven
- naval brass
- neo-dada
- nonworking
- procreant
- pyogenic
- reactor
- toxicogenic
- water-tube boiler
- wild
- self-energizing
- self-generating
- slipstream
- solar pond
- steam coal