From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcomposecom‧pose /kəmˈpəʊz $ -ˈpoʊz/ ●●○ verb 1 a) be composed of somethingCONSIST OF/BE MADE OF to be formed from a number of substances, parts, or people SYN consist of Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen. The legal system is composed of people, and people make mistakes. ► Do not say that something ‘is composed by’ or ‘is composed with’ things or people. Say that it is composed of things or people. b) [transitive not in progressive]BE formal to combine together to form something SYN make up More than 17.6 million firms compose the business sector of our economy.2 [intransitive, transitive]APMWRITE to write a piece of music → composer, composition Barrington has composed the music for a new production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.3 → compose a letter/poem/speech etc4 a) compose yourself to try hard to become calm after feeling very angry, upset, or excited Lynn took several deep breaths to compose herself. b) compose your face/features/thoughtsCALM to make yourself look or feel calm → composure When asked a question, give yourself a second to compose your thoughts.5 [transitive]ARRANGE A GROUP OF THINGS OR PEOPLE to arrange the parts of a painting, photograph, or scene in a way that achieves a particular result I like the way he composes his photographs.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
compose• Tom tried to compose a letter, but he couldn't concentrate.• The menu includes more than 60 small dishes from which you can compose a meal.• Olsen knows how to compose a visually interesting scene, but the script lets him down.• The music was composed and performed by Keith Jarrett.• These love poems are believed to have been composed by a poet at the court of King Henry II.• a song composed by Schubert• Dario composes for a living.• Microsoft Mail allows users to read, compose, forward or reply to electronic mail messages.• Mozart composed his first symphony when he was still a child.• The region was bitter cold in winter and was composed largely of woodland tracts veined heavily with water.• Schumann was better at composing music than playing it.• I needed a quiet place to compose my thoughts.• He proposed a smaller army to be composed of better-trained and better-equipped soldiers.• A young moon shining on the cascading waters made them appear to be composed of drifting snow.• Language is richly composed of many references which set up a commonality of theme between different parts of text or speech.• The second section is the Review of Literature, and is composed of three major subheadings.• Glass composed the music for Cocteau's movie.• The children will now play some pieces that they composed themselves.Origin compose (1300-1400) Old French composer, from Latin componere; → COMPOUND2 