From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishldoce_712_zchoosechoose /tʃuːz/ ●●● S1 W1 verb (past tense chose /tʃəʊz $ tʃoʊz/, past participle chosen /ˈtʃəʊzən $ ˈtʃoʊ-/) [intransitive, transitive] 1 DECIDEto decide which one of a number of things or people you want → choice It took us ages to choose a new carpet. A panel of judges will choose the winner. He chose his words carefully as he spoke. I don’t mind which one we have – you choose.choose between For pudding we could choose between ice cream and apple tart.choose from You can choose from a wide range of vehicles.choose to do something I chose to learn German rather than French.choose somebody/something to do something They chose Donald to be their leader.choose somebody/something as something The company chose London as its base.choose somebody/something for something Why did you choose me for the job?choose which/whether/what etc You can choose what you want to do first.2 DECIDEto decide to do something because that is what you prefer to dochoose to do something I chose to ignore his advice. You can, if you choose, invest in the stock market.3 → there is little/nothing to choose between somethingTHESAURUSchoose to decide which one of several things you wantI chose a black dress.Which dessert should I choose?pick to choose something, especially without thinking carefully. Pick is more informal than choosePick any number from one to ten.select formal to choose something, especially after thinking carefullyThe committee will meet to select a new chairman.All our instructors are carefully selected.opt for/go for to choose one thing instead of anotherMany car buyers opt for used vehicles.I think I’ll go for the chocolate cake.decide on to choose something from many possible things, especially when the decision has been difficult or taken a long timeThomas had decided on a career as a writer.single out to choose one person or thing from a group because they are better, worse, more important etc than the othersWhy should he be singled out for special treatment?One student was singled out for special attention.take your pick especially spoken to choose anything you want, especially when there are many different things availableYou can take your pick from Bodrum’s many bars and restaurants. → See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
choose• We should not have to choose.• I can't decide what I want. You choose.• The city chose a new mayor on Tuesday.• Will you help me choose a present for Warren?• He chose Armagh as his center of power.• Seattle has been chosen as the venue for next year's conference.• We have to choose between doing geography or studying another language.• He could afford to take it easy and he picked and chose carefully whatever he wanted to do.• The board has unanimously chosen Cole as Gray's temporary replacement.• Many of the industries chosen for government investment have in fact already gone bankrupt.• But which to choose from his marvellous output?• Import restrictions will reduce the number of cars buyers have to choose from.• Companies are now using computers to help them choose new workers.• More and more young couples today are choosing not to marry.• A committee will be selected to choose the new leader.• "Where do you want to go?" "You choose this time."• The fabric that she chose to be made into a dress is a combination of silk and cotton.• Why do so few women choose to become engineers?• And with so much wood in the room, a natural colour scheme has been chosen to complement it.• Eventually, Jane was chosen to deliver the message.• We are a people who have chosen to deny poor children clothes, medicine and school supplies.• I told him to drive more slowly, but he chose to ignore my advice.• Beattie has taken a big risk here by choosing to tell her tale through the wan and washed-out Jean.• You will need to choose trees that flower at the same time.• It took her three hours to choose which dress to wear.chose ... words• They then had to explain why they chose their words.• He chose words from a special communications program and fashioned them into sentences.• Your editor should ask for your opinions, why you chose certain words or decided to include or omit information.• I hope that I chose my words with some care.choose to do something• Never mind that it just might provide a superior education to those who choose to attend.• Read in studio One of the country's smallest police forces has been chosen to co-ordinate a national clamp down on trespassing travellers.• If they chose to greet him in the street, he did not acknowledge them.• It would be like asking her to respect him if he chose to keep working for Spider.• I have chosen to leave next year because the campus is at a high point in its history.• Each team has a suitcase which contains some clothes which are chosen to look funny.• The family doctor may choose to manage patients who are well motivated and not severely emaciated.Origin choose Old English ceosan 