PROVE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Prove

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verb

Prove v. t. (past proved; past part. proven; pres. part. proving)

1.

To try or to ascertain by an experiment, or by a test or standard; to test; as, to prove the strength of gunpowder or of ordnance; to prove the contents of a vessel by a standard measure. "Thou hast proved mine heart."

2.

To evince, establish, or ascertain, as truth, reality, or fact, by argument, testimony, or other evidence. "They have inferred much from slender premises, and conjectured when they could not prove."

3.

To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify; as, to prove a will.

4.

To gain experience of the good or evil of; to know by trial; to experience; to suffer. "Where she, captived long, great woes did prove."

5.

(Arith.) To test, evince, ascertain, or verify, as the correctness of any operation or result; thus, in subtraction, if the difference between two numbers, added to the lesser number, makes a sum equal to the greater, the correctness of the subtraction is proved.

6.

(Printing) To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of; as, to prove a page.

Synonyms: To try; verify; justify; confirm; establish; evince; manifest; show; demonstrate.

Prove v. i. (past proved; past part. proven; pres. part. proving)

1.

To make trial; to essay.

2.

To be found by experience, trial, or result; to turn out to be; as, a medicine proves salutary; the report proves false. "The case proves mortal." "So life a winter's morn may prove."

3.

To succeed; to turn out as expected. (Obs.) "The experiment proved not."

See images of 'Prove'

Etymology of 'Prove'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Prove" Quotes from Famous Books

... he stretched forth his hands towards Fanny—"Oh, Miss Trevanion, do not refuse me one prayer, however you condemn me. Let me see you alone but for one moment; let me but prove to you that, guilty as I may have been, it was not from the base motives you will hear imputed to me,—that it was not the heiress I sought to decoy, it was the woman I sought to win; oh, ...

— The Caxtons, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... is this Parliament! Fascinating to me, who have spent so much time in studying every detail of our own Parliament, which I have not the slightest doubt would prove just as strange and funny to the American visitor, if like me he sees the ridiculous side of everything, even of such an august assemblage as that of ...

— The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol 2 (of 2) • Harry Furniss

... very point," Smoke went on triumphantly. "If it makes you wonder, it will make others wonder. And when they wonder they'll come a-running. By your own wondering you prove it's sound psychology. Now, Shorty, listen to me; I'm going to hand Dawson a package that will knock the spots out of the ...

— Smoke Bellew • Jack London

... wondered what were the questions Stane had wished to ask her uncle's secretary; and which, as she was convinced, he had been at such pains to avoid. Was it possible that her rescuer believed that his one-time friend had it in his power to prove his innocence of the crime for which he had suffered? All the indications seemed to point that way; and as she looked at the grave, thoughtful face, and the greying hair of the man who had saved her from death, she resolved that on the ...

— A Mating in the Wilds • Ottwell Binns

... or wife may dispose of separate property without the consent of the other. Until 1894 it rested upon the wife to prove that property was her separate possession, but now the proof rests upon the contestants. Until 1897 she was compelled to prove that it was not paid for with community earnings. Neither of these recent laws applies to property acquired ...

— The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV • Various

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