modified

Pluralmodifieds

1. 1
   adjective

   Changed or altered from an original form, version, or state.

   The committee approved a modified version of the original proposal.

   Doctors recommended a modified diet to lower his blood pressure.

   Similaraltered, adapted, amended

   Oppositeoriginal, unaltered, unchanged

   Note

   A participial adjective, built from modify plus -ed, that now stands as a word of its own. Its best-known partner is genetically, as in genetically modified seeds, often shortened to GM. In technical writing it pairs naturally with unmodified (a modified or unmodified protocol). Unlike the past-tense verb form, it can be graded: more modified, most modified.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of modify.

   The team modified their approach after the first results came in.

   He modified the engine so it could burn cleaner fuel.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs. It is the simple past (they modified it) and also the past participle that follows have and be (it has been modified). Most uses are transitive, with an object that is changed or toned down, though an intransitive use exists too. Grammar has its own version: a word is modified by the adjective or adverb that qualifies its meaning.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A vehicle built or adapted to race in the modified class, where competitors are allowed substantial mechanical changes.

   The modified rounded the final turn and pulled ahead of the pack.

   Her modified needed a new transmission after the season opener.

   Note

   Here the adjective has become a countable noun of its own, with a regular plural: one modified, a field of modifieds. Context keeps it apart from the everyday adjective. A modified is a race car in its class, while a modified car is simply any car someone has changed.

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