Word Direct Answers

What does "compose" mean?

Compose: To form the substance of, or part of the substance of; to constitute. Their borrowed gold composed The calf in Oreb. Milton. A few useful things . . . compose their intellectual possessions. I. Watts.

Additional senses

  1. 2.To construct by mental labor; to design and execute, or put together, in a manner involving the adaptation of forms of expression to ideas, or to the laws of harmony or proportion; as, to compose a sentence, a sermon, a symphony, or a picture. Let me compose Something in verse as well as prose. Pope. The genius that composed such works as the "Standard" and "Last Supper". B. R. Haydon.
  2. 3.To dispose in proper form; to reduce to order; to put in proper state or condition; to adjust; to regulate. In a peaceful grave my corpse compose. Dryden. How in safety best we may Compose our present evils. Milton.
  3. 4.To free from agitation or disturbance; to tranquilize; to soothe; to calm; to quiet. Compose thy mind; Nor frauds are here contrived, nor force designed. Dryden.
  4. 5.(Print.) To arrange (types) in a composing stick in order for printing; to set (type).
  5. 6.To come to terms. [Obs.] Shak.

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