Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "designate" []

  • To indicate or specify; point out. (verb-transitive)
  • To give a name or title to; characterize. (verb-transitive)
  • To select and set aside for a duty, an office, or a purpose. See Synonyms at allocate, appoint. (verb-transitive)
  • Appointed but not yet installed in office: the commissioner designate. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "designate" in a sentence
  • "Yes, the President might again designate him as an enemy combatant, but I can't imagine that that possibility will suffice to preserve the justiciability of Padilla's challenge."
  • "To facilitate the performance of its functions hereunder, the Interstate Commerce Commission itself, or such division, commissioner, officer or employee of the Commission as it may designate, is authorized to act, under the authority of this order, under the title and designation of "Administrator of the Affairs of Federal Managers.""
  • "The Secretary of the Interior, acting through such agency or agencies of the Department of the Interior as he shall designate, is authorized and directed to wind up the affairs of the Authority, and to utilize for such purpose so much of the personnel, records, property, and funds of the Authority as may be necessary."