Compile
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An act of compiling code.
"[…] programming team managers assumed the "improved programs" produced through structured programming would not require as many compiles during development."
- 1 To make by gathering pieces from various sources. transitive
"Samuel Johnson compiled one of the most influential dictionaries of the English language."
- 2 put together out of existing material wordnet
- 3 To construct; to build. obsolete
"Before that Merlin dyde, he did intend / A brasen wall in compas to compyle / About Cairmardin […]"
- 4 use a computer program to translate source code written in a particular programming language into computer-readable machine code that can be executed wordnet
- 5 To achieve (a break) by making a sequence of shots. transitive
"Steve Davis compiled a 147."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 get or gather together wordnet
- 7 To use a compiler to process source code and produce executable code. transitive
"After I compile this program I’ll run it and see if it works."
- 8 To be successfully processed by a compiler into executable code. intransitive
"There must be an error in my source code because it won’t compile."
- 9 To contain or comprise. obsolete, transitive
"After ſo long a race as I haue run / Through Faery land, vvhich thoſe ſix books cõpile [compile] / giue leaue to reſt me being halfe fordonne, / and gather to my ſelfe nevv breath avvhile."
- 10 To write; to compose. obsolete
"They are at their leisure much given to poetry; in which they compile the praises of virtuous men and actions , satires against vice"
Example
More examples"I have tried to compile the ideas that you proposed prior to the meeting, so that we can use them as the base for the discussion."
Etymology
From Middle English compilen, from Old French compiler, from Latin compīlō (“to plunder”).
Related phrases
More for "compile"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.