conversion
Pluralconversions
- 1The act of changing something or someone into a different form, type, or belief.
Like changing water into ice: the same thing takes a new form.
The conversion of the old barn into a home took two years.
Her conversion to a new faith surprised her whole family.
Similartransformation, change, transition, changeover, metamorphosis
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- 2An extra point or two scored after a touchdown, by kicking the ball or carrying it into the end zone.
Like a small bonus you can earn right after scoring.
The kicker made the conversion to put his team up by one.
They went for a two-point conversion instead of kicking the ball.
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- 3A kick at the goal that a team gets after scoring a try, worth two points.
Like a follow-up shot that adds extra points after your first score.
She slotted the conversion between the posts to add two points.
The fly-half missed the conversion after a great try.
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- 4A sale or sign-up that happens after someone clicks an online ad, used to measure how well the ad works.
Like counting how many people who get a flyer actually come into the shop.
The new ad doubled our conversions last month.
The team celebrated every conversion as a new paying customer.
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- 5A living area built in part of a building that no one could live in before, like an attic or basement.
Like turning a dusty old attic into a cozy bedroom.
They turned the attic into a bedroom with a simple conversion.
The barn conversion gave them a spacious new kitchen.
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- 6Making a new word by using an existing one in a different role, like turning a noun into a verb.
Like using the same tool for a new job without changing its shape.
Through conversion, the noun "chair" can act as a verb, as in "to chair a meeting."
English gains new verbs by conversion all the time.
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- 7A chemical change that turns one substance into a different one.
Like dough turning into bread when it bakes.
The conversion of sugar into alcohol happens during fermentation.
Heat speeds up the conversion of the liquid into gas.
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- 8Taking or destroying someone's property so completely that they lose all use of it, making the taker pay its full value.
Like a borrowed bike the borrower keeps and sells: they must pay for the whole bike.
She sued the dealer for conversion after he sold her car without permission.
Refusing to return the borrowed tools amounted to conversion.
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- 9A program that has been changed so it can run on a different computer or system.
Like rewriting a recipe so it works in a different kind of oven.
The arcade game's home conversion ran smoothly on the old console.
Fans praised the conversion for keeping all the original levels.
Similarport
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- 10Swapping the subject and predicate of a statement to form a new one.
Like flipping "left is not right" into "right is not left."
Conversion turns "Some students are athletes" into "Some athletes are students."
Through conversion, "No cats are dogs" becomes "No dogs are cats."
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- 11A change in the form or value of a math statement.
Like rewriting a long sum as a shorter one that means the same.
The conversion of the formula made it easier to solve.
A small conversion changed the value of the expression.
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- 12Changing a small model figure into a different character by mixing or reshaping its parts.
Like building a new toy by mixing pieces from two others.
His conversion turned a plain soldier into a fearsome captain.
The hobby club ran a contest for the best conversion.
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Less common meaning
- 13The act of turning around in a circle, or one full turn.
Like a wheel slowly spinning all the way around.
The slow conversion of the great wheel marked the passing hours.
He watched the steady conversion of the millstone.
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Practice
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Origin
From Latin conversiō, from the verb convertō. It came into English through Anglo-Norman and Middle English.