adopt

v. to legally take a child or an animal into your family and treat them as your own.

v. to legally take another's child or a shelter animal and bring it up as one's own. Transitive; requires a direct object.

“After years of waiting, the couple was finally able to adopt a baby boy.”

“The agency works tirelessly to ensure that children in the foster care system are eventually adopted into stable and loving permanent homes.”

v. to start using a new plan, system, or way of behaving.

v. to choose to take up or follow a specific course of action, belief, or methodology.

“The school decided to adopt a new teaching method to help students learn faster.”

“The board of directors voted unanimously to adopt the revised safety protocols across all manufacturing facilities to mitigate insurance risks.”

v. to start using a different name, title, or way of speaking.

v. to assume a specific attitude, name, or identity, often for a particular purpose or period.

“The writer chose to adopt a pen name to keep her private life separate.”

“During the undercover operation, the detective had to adopt the persona of a wealthy investor to gain the suspects' trust.”

v. to beat an opponent many times in a row in a video game.

v. to defeat an opponent decisively and repeatedly, typically ten times consecutively, in a competitive gaming context.

“He got adopted after losing ten matches straight without winning once.”

“The professional player managed to adopt his rival during the livestream, much to the amusement of the thousands of viewers watching the set.”

Slang · Informal