What does prove mean?

Definitions for prove
pruvprove

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word prove.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. prove, turn out, turn upverb

    be shown or be found to be

    "She proved to be right"; "The medicine turned out to save her life"; "She turned up HIV positive"

  2. prove, demonstrate, establish, show, shewverb

    establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment

    "The experiment demonstrated the instability of the compound"; "The mathematician showed the validity of the conjecture"

  3. testify, bear witness, prove, evidence, showverb

    provide evidence for

    "The blood test showed that he was the father"; "Her behavior testified to her incompetence"

  4. proveverb

    prove formally; demonstrate by a mathematical, formal proof

  5. test, prove, try, try out, examine, essayverb

    put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to

    "This approach has been tried with good results"; "Test this recipe"

  6. rise, proveverb

    increase in volume

    "the dough rose slowly in the warm room"

  7. raise, leaven, proveverb

    cause to puff up with a leaven

    "unleavened bread"

  8. proveverb

    take a trial impression of

  9. proveverb

    obtain probate of

    "prove a will"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Prieve

    for prove.

    Edmund Spenser.

  2. To Proveverb

    Etymology: probo, Lat. prouver, Fr.

    Let the trumpet sound,
    If none appear to prove upon thy person
    Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons,
    There is my pledge; I’ll prove it on thy heart. William Shakespeare.

    So both their deeds compar’d this day shall prove. John Milton.

    Smile on me, and I will prove,
    Wonder is shorter liv’d than love. Edmund Waller.

    If it prove any thing, it can only prove against our author, that the assignment of dominion to the eldest is not by divine institution. John Locke.

    In spite of Luther’s declaration, he will prove the tenet upon him. Francis Atterbury.

    Wilt thou thy idle rage by reason prove?
    Or speak those thoughts, which have no power to move? George Sandys.

    Thy overpraising leaves in doubt
    The virtue of that fruit, in thee first prov’d. John Milton.

    Delay not the present, but
    Filling the air with swords advanc’d, and darts,
    We prove this very hour. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

    Could sense make Marius sit unbound, and prove
    The cruel lancing of the knotty gout. Davies.

    Well I deserv’d Evadne’s scorn to prove,
    That to ambition sacrific’d my love. Edmund Waller.

    Let him in arms the pow’r of Turnus prove,
    And learn to fear whom he disdains to love. Dryden.

  3. To Proveverb

    Children prove, whether they can rub upon the breast with one hand, and pat upon the forehead with another. Francis Bacon.

    The sons prepare
    Meeting like winds broke loose upon the main,
    To prove by arms whose fate it was to reign. Dryden.

    Prove true, imagination; oh, prove true,
    That I, dear brother, be now ta’en for you. William Shakespeare.

    All esculent and garden herbs, set upon the tops of hills, will prove more medicinal, though less esculent. Francis Bacon.

    If the experiment proved not, it might be pretended, that the beasts were not killed in the due time. Francis Bacon.

    The fair blossom hangs the head
    Sideways, as on a dying bed,
    And those pearls of dew she wears,
    Prove to be presaging tears. John Milton.

    The beauties which adorn’d that age,
    The shining subjects of his rage;
    Hoping they should immortal prove,
    Rewarded with success in love. Edmund Waller.

    When the inflammation ends in a gangrene, the case proves mortal. Arbuthnot.

    Property, you see it alter,
    Or in a mortgage prove a lawyer’s share,
    Or in a jointure vanish from the heir. Alexander Pope.

ChatGPT

  1. prove

    To prove means to establish the truth or validity of a statement, theory or concept through sufficient and compelling evidence, logic, factual information, experimental data or demonstration. It refers to the process of removing doubts, disagreements, or contradictions through reasoning or arguments to demonstrate that something is beyond doubt. In mathematics, a proof is a deductive argument for a mathematical statement.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Proveverb

    to try or to ascertain by an experiment, or by a test or standard; to test; as, to prove the strength of gunpowder or of ordnance; to prove the contents of a vessel by a standard measure

  2. Proveverb

    to evince, establish, or ascertain, as truth, reality, or fact, by argument, testimony, or other evidence

  3. Proveverb

    to ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify; as, to prove a will

  4. Proveverb

    to gain experience of the good or evil of; to know by trial; to experience; to suffer

  5. Proveverb

    to test, evince, ascertain, or verify, as the correctness of any operation or result; thus, in subtraction, if the difference between two numbers, added to the lesser number, makes a sum equal to the greater, the correctness of the subtraction is proved

  6. Proveverb

    to take a trial impression of; to take a proof of; as, to prove a page

  7. Proveverb

    to make trial; to essay

  8. Proveverb

    to be found by experience, trial, or result; to turn out to be; as, a medicine proves salutary; the report proves false

  9. Proveverb

    to succeed; to turn out as expected

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Prove

    prōōv, v.t. to try by experiment or by a test or standard: to make certain: to try by suffering: to establish or ascertain as truth by argument or other evidence: to demonstrate: to ascertain the genuineness of: to experience or suffer: (math.) to ascertain the correctness of any result.—v.i. to make trial: to turn out: to be shown afterwards.—n. Prov′er.—The exception proves the rule, the exception tests the rule, proving its general truth. [O. Fr. prover (Fr. prouver), which, like A.S. prófian and Ger. proben, is from L. probāreprobus, excellent.]

Editors Contribution

  1. prove

    Verify the truth of.

    They did prove that human thought can contribute to amazing change on our health.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 5, 2020  

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'prove' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1789

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'prove' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2838

  3. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'prove' in Verbs Frequency: #152

How to pronounce prove?

How to say prove in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of prove in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of prove in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of prove in a Sentence

  1. George Booth:

    Until U.S. sanctions are lifted European banks with major operations in the States, of which there are many, will still be exposed to onerous trade restrictions unless they can prove complete separation of European and U.S. divisions of their business, that's easier said than done. It should not be underestimated the level of internal restructuring required to satisfy this criteria.

  2. Fed Chair Janet Yellen:

    These developments, if they prove persistent, could weigh on the outlook for economic activity and the labour market.

  3. Joe Dinkin:

    Trump keeps saying that it's only the media who cares about his taxes. This weekend's marches will prove that's not true -- the people care, and the reason the people care is because without seeing Trump's taxes, we'll never know what foreign business entanglements he has, and we can't be sure in whose interests he is really working.

  4. Melissa McCarthy:

    As tough as she is, I think her message was always if you work hard enough and prove it, you can do it, which I think is very different from a bad boss who almost doesn't want you to succeed, the Boss.

  5. Chuck Schumer:

    I believe if we can prove to the American people, which I believe is truly the case, that this nominee will lead to a court that repeals women's reproductive freedom, repeals ACA with its protections for pre-existing conditions, we will get a majority of the Senate to vote for it.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

prove#1#4340#10000

Translations for prove

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"prove." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/prove>.

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    the work of inquiring into something thoroughly and systematically
    A investigating
    B tranquillity
    C disguise
    D assortment

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