What does "commute" mean?
A regular journey between two places, typically home and work.
Commute
/kəˈmjuːt/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A regular journey between two places, typically home and work.
- Grammar: commute is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: alternate, bandy, be quits with, bused.
- Useful contrasts: carry out a project, cruise, cruises.
- Usage evidence: I have to commute all the way from a distant suburb.
How to use "commute"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "commute" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "commute" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "commute" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "commute" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "commute" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "alternate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "commute", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A regular journey between two places, typically home and work.
"PS: The average commute time in the freewayless City of Vancouver is 27 minutes, while outside of the City of Vancouver the average commute time is 31 minutes."
- 2 a regular journey of some distance to and from your place of work wordnet
- 3 The route, time or distance of that journey.
Verb
- 1 To exchange substantially; to abate but not abolish completely, a penalty, obligation, or payment in return for a great, single thing or an aggregate; to cash in; to lessen
"to commute tithes into rentcharges for a sum"
- 2 To regularly travel from one's home to one's workplace or school, or vice versa. Canada, UK, US, intransitive
"I commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan by bicycle."
- 3 exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category wordnet
- 4 To exchange substantially; to abate but not abolish completely, a penalty, obligation, or payment in return for a great, single thing or an aggregate; to cash in; to lessen; To pay, or arrange to pay, in advance, in a lump sum instead of part by part. transitive
"to commute the daily toll for a year's pass"
- 5 To regularly travel from one place to another using public transport. Philippines, intransitive
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 exchange a penalty for a less severe one wordnet
- 7 To exchange substantially; to abate but not abolish completely, a penalty, obligation, or payment in return for a great, single thing or an aggregate; to cash in; to lessen; To reduce the sentence previously given for a criminal offense. transitive
"His prison sentence was commuted to probation."
- 8 To journey, to make a journey intransitive
"By one estimate, vultures either residing in or commuting into the Serengeti ecosystem during the annual migration—when 1.3 million white-bearded wildebeests shuffle between Kenya and Tanzania—historically consumed more meat than all mammalian carnivores in the Serengeti combined."
- 9 change the order or arrangement of wordnet
- 10 To exchange substantially; to abate but not abolish completely, a penalty, obligation, or payment in return for a great, single thing or an aggregate; to cash in; to lessen; To pay out the lumpsum present value of an annuity, instead of paying in instalments; to cash in; to encash transitive
- 11 exchange positions without a change in value wordnet
- 12 To exchange substantially; to abate but not abolish completely, a penalty, obligation, or payment in return for a great, single thing or an aggregate; to cash in; to lessen; To obtain or bargain for exemption or substitution; intransitive, obsolete
"He […] thinks it unlawful to commute, and that he is bound to pay his vow in kind."
- 13 travel back and forth regularly, as between one's place of work and home wordnet
- 14 Of an operation, to be commutative, i.e. to have the property that changing the order of the operands does not change the result. intransitive
"A pair of matrices share the same set of eigenvectors if and only if they commute."
Example
"I have to commute all the way from a distant suburb."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "commute"?
Common synonyms include: alternate, bandy, be quits with, bused, change, change.
How do you use "commute" in a sentence?
I have to commute all the way from a distant suburb.
How do you pronounce "commute"?
Pronounced /kəˈmjuːt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin commūtō.
Etymology 2
From commutation ticket, a pass on a railroad, streetcar line, etc. that permitted multiple rides over a period of time, eg, a month, for a single, commuted payment.