CONSULT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does consult mean? 

• CONSULT (verb)
  The verb CONSULT has 4 senses:

1. get or ask advice from

2. seek information from

3. have a conference in order to talk something over

4. advise professionally

  Familiarity information: CONSULT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONSULT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they consult    ... he / she / it consults   
Past simple: consulted   
Past participle: consulted   
-ing form: consulting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get or ask advice from

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

confer with; consult

Context example:

They had to consult before arriving at a decision

Hypernyms (to "consult" is one way to...):

ask; enquire; inquire (address a question to and expect an answer from)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue consult
Sam cannot consult Sue

Derivation:

consultation (a conference between two or more people to consider a particular question)

consultation (a conference (usually with someone important))

consultative; consultatory; consultive (giving advice)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Seek information from

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

consult; look up; refer

Context example:

refer to your notes

Hypernyms (to "consult" is one way to...):

research (attempt to find out in a systematically and scientific manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

consultation (the act of referring or consulting)

consultation (a conference between two or more people to consider a particular question)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Have a conference in order to talk something over

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

confab; confabulate; confer; consult

Context example:

We conferred about a plan of action

Hypernyms (to "consult" is one way to...):

discuss; hash out; talk over (speak with others about (something); talk (something) over in detail; have a discussion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "consult"):

collogue (confer secretly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence examples:

Sam cannot consult Sue
Sam wants to consult with Sue

Derivation:

consultation (a conference between two or more people to consider a particular question)

consultation (a conference (usually with someone important))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Advise professionally

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The professor consults for industry

Hypernyms (to "consult" is one way to...):

advise; counsel; rede (give advice to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue consult
Sam cannot consult Sue

Derivation:

consultant (an expert who gives advice)

consultation (a conference between two or more people to consider a particular question)

consultative; consultatory; consultive (giving advice)

 Context examples 

Why don't you consult my art?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Oh, I daresay by consulting our sales book we could very easily tell you.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Meg, dear, be prudent, watch over your sisters, consult Hannah, and in any perplexity, go to Mr. Laurence.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It is a little fancy of my wife’s, and ladies’ fancies, you know, madam, ladies’ fancies must be consulted.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

‘I must see that paper, Musgrave,’ said I, ‘which this butler of yours thought it worth his while to consult, even at the risk of the loss of his place.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Consult your own understanding, your own sense of the probable, your own observation of what is passing around you.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

"We must consult as to what is to be done," he said as we descended the stairs.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She consulted, and in a degree was influenced by her in marking out the scheme of retrenchment which was at last submitted to Sir Walter.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I only want to be consulted sometimes.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

My greatest danger would lie in her consulting Mrs. Fraser, and I at a distance unable to help my own cause.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)