tolerate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to allow the existence, presence, practice, or act of without prohibition or hindrance; permit.
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to endure without repugnance; put up with.
I can tolerate laziness, but not incompetence.
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Medicine/Medical. to endure or resist the action of (a drug, poison, etc.).
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Obsolete. to experience, undergo, or sustain, as pain or hardship.
verb
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to treat with indulgence, liberality, or forbearance
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to permit
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to be able to bear; put up with
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med to have tolerance for (a drug, poison, etc)
Other Word Forms
- nontolerated adjective
- nontolerative adjective
- tolerative adjective
- tolerator noun
- untolerated adjective
- untolerating adjective
- untolerative adjective
Etymology
Origin of tolerate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin tolerātus “borne,” past participle of tolerāre “to bear”; akin to thole 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the age of 32, Oliver James could no longer tolerate the shame of a double life, the burden of “living a lie.”
While her affection for Kermit is true, the great joke of their affair is that he’s often portrayed as tolerating her instead of providing the full worship she demands – nay, deserves.
From Salon
Since national defense cannot tolerate downtime, readiness spending tends to persist even when procurement ebbs.
From MarketWatch
Their findings show that at least one microbe can tolerate ambiguity in its genetic code, overturning a central assumption in biology.
From Science Daily
Mohammad Ali Kadivar, an Iranian associate professor of sociology and international studies at Boston College, said these two camps appear to be tolerating each other as they face a shared opponent.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
