vary
/ˈvɛəɹi/ verb B1- To change with time or a similar parameter. · He varies his magic tricks so as to minimize the possibility that any given audience member will see the same trick twice.
- To institute a change in, from a current state; to modify. · You should vary your diet. Eating just bread will do you harm in the end.
- Not to remain constant: to change with time or a similar parameter. · His mood varies by the hour.· The sine function varies between −1 and 1.
- To display differences. · The sprouting tendency of potatoes varies between cultivars, years and places of growing.
- To be or act different from the usual. · I'm not comfortable with 3.Nc3 in the Caro-Kann, so I decided to vary and play exd5.
- To make of different kinds; to make different from one another; to diversify; to variegate.
- To embellish; to change fancifully; to present under new aspects, as of form, key, measure, etc. See variation.
He/she/it varies · Past varied · Past participle varied · -ing form varying
Verb forms
- Base form
- vary
- He/she/it
- varies
- Past
- varied
- Past participle
- varied
- -ing form
- varying
From the library
Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which presented more singular features than that which was associated with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran.
Well, by means of these lines, which are in accordance with the double motion of the earth, and the ellipse it describes round the sun, I am enabled to ascertain the precise hour with more minuteness than if I possessed a watch; for that might be broken or deranged in its movements, while the sun and earth never vary in their appointed paths.”
“That while the writing of different persons done with the right hand varies, that performed with the left hand is invariably uniform.”
A gang of burglars acting in the country might be expected to vary the scene of their operations, and not to crack two cribs in the same district within a few days.
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