v., -vert·ed, -vert·ing, -verts. v.tr.
- To change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product; transform: convert water into ice.
- To change (something) from one use, function, or purpose to another; adapt to a new or different purpose: convert a forest into farmland.
- To persuade or induce to adopt a particular religion, faith, or belief: convert pagans to Christianity; was converted to pacifism by the war.
- To exchange for something of equal value: convert assets into cash.
- To exchange (a security, for example) by substituting an equivalent of another form.
- To express (a quantity) in alternative units: converting feet into meters.
- Logic. To transform (a proposition) by conversion.
- Law.
- To appropriate (another's property) without right to one's own use.
- To change (property) from real to personal or from joint to separate or vice versa.
- Sports.
- To complete (a conversion, penalty shot, or free throw) successfully.
- To score (a spare) in bowling.
- To undergo a conversion: We converted to Islam several years ago.
- To be converted: a sofa that converts into a bed; arms factories converting to peacetime production.
- Football. To make a conversion.
- Sports. To shoot and score a goal, especially immediately after receiving a pass or gaining control of a rebound.
One who has been converted, especially from one religion or belief to another.
[Middle English converten, from Old French convertir, from Latin convertere, to turn around : com-, intensive pref.; see com- + vertere, to turn.]
SYNONYMS convert, metamorphose, transfigure, transform, transmogrify, transmute. These verbs mean to change into a different form, substance, or state: convert stocks into cash; misery that was metamorphosed into happiness; a gangling adolescent who was transfigured into a handsome adult; transformed the bare stage into an enchanted forest; a boom that transmogrified the sleepy town into a bustling city; impossible to transmute lead into gold.
