select
- 01 B1 Intermediate
v.to choose someone or something from a group, often after careful thought.
v.to choose from a number of options or alternatives, typically based on specific criteria.
Simple“You can select the best photos from the trip and print them for the album.”
In context“The committee will select the most qualified candidate after reviewing the final round of interviews and portfolio submissions.”
UsageOften used in formal contexts where 'choose' might feel too casual.
- 02 B1 Intermediate
v.to click on something on a computer screen so that you can work with it.
v.to highlight or mark a specific area of text, an icon, or a data set for a subsequent operation.
Simple“Use your mouse to select the text you want to copy.”
In context“The user must select the relevant rows in the spreadsheet before applying the formatting macro to the data set.”
UsageCommonly used with 'deselect' as its direct opposite in software interfaces.
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.describes a small group of people or things that are the best of their kind.
adj.carefully chosen as being the best or most suitable; often implies exclusivity or high social status.
Simple“The club is only open to a select group of members.”
In context“The boutique offers a select range of hand-crafted leather goods sourced from small workshops across Tuscany.”
UsageUsually placed before the noun it describes.
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a button on a game controller used to choose options or open menus.
n.a specific functional button on a digital input device, traditionally used for navigation or secondary menu activation.
Simple“Press the select button to change your character's outfit in the game.”
In context“The classic controller layout features a select button positioned to the left of the start button for easy thumb access.”
Usage select committee · select for
“Hotel guests are told they can select any date and time during their stay to be prioritised for tickets, and that there are “plenty of tickets”.”
“I'm happy that it [Eurovision] is going to be in my home." However, the EBU said on Thursday that Burgas was selected following a "competitive" process involving four Bulgarian cities.”
From Latin sēlēctus, perfect passive participle of sēligō (“choose out, select”), from sē- (“without; apart”) + legō (“gather, select”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.