morph

1 of 5

noun

1
a
b
: a distinctive collocation of phones (such as a portmanteau form) that serves as the realization of more than one morpheme in a context (such as the French du for the sequence of de and le)
2
a
: a local population of a species that consists of interbreeding organisms and is distinguishable from other populations by morphology or behavior though capable of interbreeding with them
b
: a phenotypic variant of a species

morph

2 of 5

verb

morphed; morphing; morphs

transitive verb

: to change the form or character of : transform

intransitive verb

: to undergo transformation
especially : to undergo transformation from an image of one object into that of another especially by means of computer-generated animation

morph

3 of 5

abbreviation

morph-

4 of 5

combining form

variants or morpho-
1
: form
morphogenesis
2
: morpheme
morphophonemics

-morph

5 of 5

noun combining form

: one having (such) a form
isomorph

Examples of morph in a Sentence

Verb The picture of a dog morphed into a picture of a cat. Using the new software, we morphed a picture of a dog into a picture of a cat. a quiet college student who has morphed into a glamorous actress He is trying to morph himself into a different person.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Online, breeders have counselled against pairing morphs that are known to result in impairments. Rebecca Giggs, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 The first to produce a morph, and name it, gained celebrity. Rebecca Giggs, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 Other cuts and efforts to turn a profit have left streaming subscribers paying more for less, and slowly, cord-cutting TV fans are seeing streaming morph back into old TV—ads and all. Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 12 Feb. 2024 The Nosy Be morph is stunningly blue, like the chameleons found in that area, while the Sambava morphs are more mottled with green and yellow. Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 28 May 2015 In a world of infinite media, the successful art work makes its way to others, morphs, moves on. Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023 In the normal course of events of elegans populations reach their Malthusian limit or carrying capacity, and the chemical signals in the environment trigger a shift of many into an alternative morph which serves to flip the individual into stasis, the dauer. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 19 Aug. 2011 Google Doodles The Google Doodle on Sept. 27, 2023 – the company's 25th anniversary – morphs from past Google logos, into the current logo, and then into a doodle that incorporates the number 25. Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 27 Sep. 2023 Pair black morph suits with swim goggles and create diving cylinders out of liter soda bottles. Juliana Labianca, Good Housekeeping, 21 Aug. 2023
Verb
The neon signs and mom-and-pop shops on Yonge Street have morphed into hipster-friendly barbershops and cafés. Heather Greenwood Davis, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Mar. 2024 The hope, of course, is that this team will respond the same way: an imaginary weight lifted from their shoulders that morphs into a loose, free, confident and determined group going forward. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Mar. 2024 And because the state tournament games are broadcast by KSTP, a local ABC affiliate, pregame introductions have morphed into a sort of pageant to determine who can out-mullet their peers. Scott Cacciola, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024 The 22-year-old has quickly morphed into one of the team’s most consistent and durable players, posting 16.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in his 54 games, which includes 48 starts. Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 4 Mar. 2024 At different stages of the pandemic, the housing scene morphed from a buyers’ market to a sellers’ market—and sometimes back again—with lightning speed. Sydney Lake, Fortune, 13 Mar. 2024 That eventually morphed into Ardian in 2013, and is now a sprawling 1,050-people operation. Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 8 Mar. 2024 However, the group soon morphed into something more sinister — a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse and fear under the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family. Lexy Perez, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Mar. 2024 Passionate bloggers organically morph into savvier publishers willing to invest in the vision. Anat (anne Moss) El Hashahar, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'morph.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

back-formation from morpheme

Verb

short for metamorphose

Combining form

German, from Greek, from morphē

Noun combining form

International Scientific Vocabulary, from -morphous

First Known Use

Noun

1947, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1982, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of morph was in 1947

Dictionary Entries Near morph

Cite this Entry

“Morph.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morph. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

morph

verb
ˈmȯrf
: to change in form or character
Etymology

Verb

short for metamorphose "to change in form"

Medical Definition

morph

abbreviation

More from Merriam-Webster on morph

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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