- 1 to choose somebody/something from a group of people or things, usually according to a system select somebody/something for something He hasn't been selected for the team. All our hotels have been carefully selected for the excellent value they provide. select somebody/something as something She was selected as the parliamentary candidate for Bath. select somebody/something a randomly selected sample of 23 schools selected poems of T.S. Eliot This model is available at selected stores only. She selected an apple from the fruit bowl. It is important to select a software package that suits your requirements. select somebody/something to do something Six theatre companies have been selected to take part in this year's festival. select what, which, etc… Select what you want from the options available. Synonymschooseselect pick decide opt go forThese words all mean to decide which thing or person you want out of the ones that are available.choose to decide which thing or person you want out of the ones that are available:You choose—I can’t decide.select [often passive] to choose somebody/something, usually carefully, from a group of people or things:He was selected for the team. a randomly selected sample of 23 schoolspick (rather informal) to choose somebody/something from a group of people or things:She picked the best cake for herself.choose, select or pick?Choose is the most general of these words and the only one that can be used without an object. When you select something, you choose it carefully, unless you actually say that it is selected randomly/at random. Pick is a more informal word and often a less careful action, used especially when the choice being made is not very important.decide to choose between two or more possibilities:We’re still trying to decide on a venue.opt to choose to take or not to take a particular course of action:After graduating she opted for a career in music. After a lot of thought, I opted against buying a motorbike.go for something (rather informal) to choose something:I think I’ll go for the fruit salad.Patterns to choose/select/pick/decide between A and/or B to choose/select/pick A from B to opt/go for somebody/something to choose/decide/opt to do something to choose/select/pick somebody/something carefully/at random randomly chosen/selected/picked Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbcarefully, specially, specifically, … verb + selectallow somebody to, enable somebody to prepositionaccording to, as, for, … phrasesbe selected on the basis of, well selected See full entry
- 2 select something (computing) to mark something on a computer screen; to choose something, especially from a menu Select the text you want to format by holding down the left button on your mouse. Select ‘New Mail’ from the ‘Send’ menu. Wordfindercommandcommand, connect, desktop, drag, enter, insert, refresh, scroll, select, toggle See related entries: Using a computer Word Originmid 16th cent.: from Latin select- ‘chosen’, from the verb seligere, from se- ‘apart’ + legere ‘choose’.Extra examples Although this was a very highly selected study group, the results were in agreement with our findings. She has been selected for the England team. Students select modules according to their interests. The design of the course allows students to select modules according to their interests. The program automatically selects and stores the most frequently used data. The winning entry will be selected at random by computer. They were selected as finalists for this year’s awards. They were selected on the basis of size. This anthology is well selected and presented. You can select goods from our catalogue. He hasn’t been selected for the team. Six theatre companies have been selected to take part in this year’s festival.
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BrE BrE//sɪˈlekt//; NAmE NAmE//sɪˈlekt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they select BrE BrE//sɪˈlekt//; NAmE NAmE//sɪˈlekt//
he / she / it selects BrE BrE//sɪˈlekts//; NAmE NAmE//sɪˈlekts//
past simple selected BrE BrE//sɪˈlektɪd//; NAmE NAmE//sɪˈlektɪd//
past participle selected BrE BrE//sɪˈlektɪd//; NAmE NAmE//sɪˈlektɪd//
-ing form selecting BrE BrE//sɪˈlektɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//sɪˈlektɪŋ//
Using a computerCheck pronunciation: select
