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- Dictionarydictate
verb
- 1. state or order authoritatively: "the tsar's attempts to dictate policy" Similar
- 2. say or read aloud (words to be typed, written down, or recorded on tape): "I have four letters to dictate" Similar Opposite
noun
- 1. an order or principle that must be obeyed: "the dictates of fashion" Similar
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DICTATE definition: 1. to give orders, or tell someone exactly what they must do, with total authority: 2. to…. Learn more.
1. : to speak or read for a person to transcribe or for a machine to record. dictating a letter to her secretary. 2. a. : to issue as an order. b. : to impose, pronounce, or specify authoritatively. dictate the terms of surrender.
vb. 1. to say (messages, letters, speeches, etc) aloud for mechanical recording or verbatim transcription by another person. 2. ( tr) to prescribe (commands) authoritatively. 3. ( intr) to act in a tyrannical manner; seek to impose one's will on others. n. 4. an authoritative command. 5. a guiding principle or rule: the dictates of reason.
Dictate definition: to say or read (something) aloud for another person to transcribe or for a machine to record. See examples of DICTATE used in a sentence.
If you dictate something, you say or read it aloud for someone else to write down.
DICTATE meaning: 1. to give orders, or tell someone exactly what they must do, with total authority: 2. to…. Learn more.
In a very different meaning, dictate means to say something out loud to a person or into a machine so it can be recorded. Up until fairly recently, bosses dictated letters and reports to secretaries who wrote them down.
DICTATE meaning: 1 : to speak or read (something) to a person who writes it down or to a machine that records it; 2 : to say or state (something) with authority or power.
Definition of dictate verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
to say or read something for someone to write down: Tony was busy dictating letters to his secretary. dictate verb (DECIDE) to decide or control what happens: [ + question word ] The weather will dictate where we hold the party. Phrasal verbs. dictate to sb.
