From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishformulatefor‧mu‧late /ˈfɔːmjəleɪt $ ˈfɔːr-/ ●○○ AWL verb [transitive] 1 PLANto develop something such as a plan or a set of rules, and decide all the details of how it will be doneformulate a policy/plan/strategy etc He formulated Labour Party education policy in 1922.formulate an idea/theory Darwin formulated the theory of natural selection.2 EXPRESSto think carefully about what to say, and say it clearly We are studying the situation but have not formulated any response yet. —formulation /ˌfɔːmjəˈleɪʃən $ ˌfɔːr-/ noun [countable, uncountable] the formulation of clear objectives→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
formulate• The songs are clean and streamlined, consistently formulated and ready for radio play.• The leadership role entails taking the initiative in formulating, articulating, and implementing goals for the political system.• Changes to the education system should be formulated by teachers not politicians.• Which is why our Multivitamin Liquid is specially formulated for children whose vitamin requirements differ from those of adults.• Many institutions are formulating guidelines to insure the protection of the rights of persons housed by that institution.• Jackie paused to formulate her reply.• He did not attempt to formulate his ideas in finished form; he thought aloud so one could hear the brain tick.• The city is currently formulating policies on new road expansions.• The government has set up a working party to formulate proposals for reducing environmental pollution.• The gasoline is formulated to burn more cleanly, producing less pollution.• Within the confines of lunch, I did my best to formulate what I thought.formulate an idea/theory• In practice every opportunity should be taken to encourage students to formulate ideas for themselves.• They think, observe, formulate theories, make predictions, and do experiments.• To answer these questions, we have to formulate a theory of the determinants of growth.From Longman Business Dictionaryformulatefor‧mu‧late /ˈfɔːmjəleɪtˈfɔːrm-/ verbCOMMERCE formulate a plan/policy/strategy etc to decide on a plan or a way of doing something and work out in detail how it should be doneThe company has hired a financial adviser to assist in formulating a growth strategy.The company has another 120 days to formulate a plan for repaying its creditors.→ See Verb table 