de‧ter‧mine W2 / dɪtɜmən, dɪtɜmɪn $ -ɜr- / 动词 [及物动词]

1 to find out the facts about something 同义词 establish :

Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire.

determine how/what/who etc

The aim of the inquiry was to determine what had caused the accident.

determine that

Experts have determined that the signature was forged.

2 if something determines something else, it directly influences or decides it :

The amount of available water determines the number of houses that can be built.

The age of a wine is a determining factor as to how it tastes.

determine how/whether/what etc

How hard the swimmers work now will determine how they perform in the Olympics.

3 to officially decide something :

The date of the court case has not yet been determined.

determine how/what/who etc

The tests will help the doctors determine what treatment to use.

4 determine to do something formal to decide to do something :

We determined to leave at once.

THESAURUS

decide to make a choice to do something : We decided to send our son to a boarding school. | I decided to go home early.

make up your mind to decide something, especially after thinking about it for a long time. Make up your mind is less formal than decide and is mainly used in spoken English : Have you made up your mind about where you’ll go on holiday?

choose to do something to decide to do something – especially when this is different from what people expect or tell you to do : She chose to ignore my advice. | More young couples are choosing not to marry.

make a decision to decide after thinking carefully about something, especially about something that is very important : They made a decision not to have children.

resolve formal to decide that you will definitely do something, especially because you think it will be better for you, or because of your past experiences : She resolved to work hard at school.

determine formal to officially decide what something shall be : Each hospital can determine its own pay rates.

come down in favour of something British English , come down in favor of something American English to decide to support a particular plan, argument etc – used especially about groups of people : Eight of the ten committee members came down in favour of the changes.

come to/reach a decision to officially decide about something important after discussing and carefully considering it - used especially about groups of people : After two hours of discussion, the comittee had still not come to a decision on any of the proposals.