PROCEED

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does proceed mean? 

• PROCEED (verb)
  The verb PROCEED has 5 senses:

1. continue talking

2. move ahead; travel onward in time or space

3. follow a procedure or take a course

4. follow a certain course

5. continue a certain state, condition, or activity

  Familiarity information: PROCEED used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PROCEED (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they proceed ... he / she / it proceeds
Past simple: proceeded   
Past participle: proceeded   
-ing form: proceeding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Continue talking

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

carry on; continue; go on; proceed

Context example:

carry on--pretend we are not in the room

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

speak; talk (exchange thoughts; talk with)

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

segue (proceed without interruption; in music or talk)

jog; ramble; ramble on (continue talking or writing in a desultory manner)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s VERB-ing

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move ahead; travel onward in time or space

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

continue; go forward; proceed

Context example:

We are moving ahead in time now

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

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Verb group:

bear on; carry on; continue; preserve; uphold (keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last)

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

head (to go or travel towards)

trace (make one's course or travel along a path; travel or pass over, around, or along)

roar (act or proceed in a riotous, turbulent, or disorderly way)

limp (proceed slowly or with difficulty)

wander (go via an indirect route or at no set pace)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

They proceed up the hill

Derivation:

procession (the act of moving forward (as toward a goal))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Follow a procedure or take a course

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

go; move; proceed

Context example:

Messages must go through diplomatic channels

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

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

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

work (proceed towards a goal or along a path or through an activity)

embark; venture (proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers)

steamroll; steamroller (proceed with great force)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Something ----s Adjective/Noun
Somebody ----s Adjective
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

procedure (a particular course of action intended to achieve a result)

proceeding; proceedings ((law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Follow a certain course

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

go; proceed

Context example:

how did your interview go?

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

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

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

drag; drag on; drag out (proceed for an extended period of time)

come; do; fare; get along; make out (proceed or get along)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something ----s Adjective/Noun

Sense 5

Meaning:

Continue a certain state, condition, or activity

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

continue; go along; go on; keep; proceed

Context example:

We went on working until well past midnight

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

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Verb group:

bear on; carry on; continue; preserve; uphold (keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last)

continue (continue after an interruption)

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

hold (remain in a certain state, position, or condition)

keep going; run on (continue uninterrupted)

ride (continue undisturbed and without interference)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s VERB-ing

 Context examples 

Another deal proceeded, and Crawford began again about Thornton Lacey.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I was going on at a great rate, with a clenched hand, and a most enthusiastic countenance; but it was quite unnecessary to proceed.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

As he was proceeding along the sands, he struck his foot against something and fell at his length on the ground.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Here I proceeded to examine its contents.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

They watched him scramble backward into the thicket, then proceeded on their way.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

If Mr. Knightley did not begin seriously, he was obliged to proceed so, for his proposal was caught at with delight; and the Oh!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

But now Lip-lip was his dog, and he proceeded to wreak his vengeance on him by putting him at the end of the longest rope.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Perhaps we shall come upon some other indications as we proceed.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These were some of the thoughts which occupied Anne, while her fingers were mechanically at work, proceeding for half an hour together, equally without error, and without consciousness.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

He fell wounded—he stood up—he remounted—he proceeded.

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