Approve
/əˈpruːv/
verbBeginnerVery CommonGeneral
Idiom
Meaning
Questions
Definitions
1
To officially accept or sanction.
/əˈpruːv/
verbneutralBeginner
General
To formally agree to or accept something.
The teacher approved my project.
💡 Simply: To say yes to something.
More Examples
2
The bank approved my loan application.
How It's Used
Business
"The board of directors approved the new budget."
Government
"The Senate approved the bill."
Idioms & expressions
meet with approval
To be well-received or accepted.
"Her ideas met with approval from the team."
From Old French aprover, from Latin approbare, from ad- "to" + probare "to prove, test". It originally meant to test or prove something.
The word 'approve' has consistently held its core meaning of giving formal consent throughout history, although the contexts in which it is used have expanded.
Memory tip
Think of 'proving' something to be good enough; approval is like giving a stamp of approval.
Practice
Base: approve
aproveaprove
Usage
60%Spoken
40%Written