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Definition of "modify" []

  • To change in form or character; alter. (verb-transitive)
  • To make less extreme, severe, or strong: refused to modify her stand on the issue. (verb-transitive)
  • Grammar To qualify or limit the meaning of. For example, summer modifies day in the phrase a summer day. (verb-transitive)
  • Linguistics To change (a vowel) by umlaut. (verb-transitive)
  • To be or become modified; change. (verb-intransitive)

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 "modify" in a sentence
  • "Among the changes, PCH agreed to modify is mailings to eliminate any suggestion that buying magazine subscriptions or other products from PCH increases the likelihood people will win and that the more they buy, the better their chances."
  • "Also, the part I'd modify is giving Bella a little more vampire ability other than just "blocking" the other vampires abilities."
  • "That is, hyphenate when words in a phrase modify another work, not when they don’t."