ap ‧ praise /əˈpreɪz/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: aprisier , from prisier 'to value' ; influenced by praise ]
1 . formal to officially judge how successful, effective, or valuable something is SYN evaluate :
Greenpeace has been invited to appraise the environmental costs of such an operation.
2 . literary to look carefully at someone or something to make an opinion about them:
His eyes appraised her face.
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THESAURUS
▪ judge to form an opinion about someone or something, using your knowledge, experience, and intelligence:
He will judge whether the project has been a success.
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It’s difficult to judge how long the work will take.
▪ assess to judge how good, bad, successful etc someone or something is, especially by using a fixed set of standards. Assess is often used about measuring students’ abilities and performance:
Are tests and exams the best way to assess students’ progress?
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The insurance company will send someone to assess the damage.
▪ evaluate to judge how good, bad, successful etc someone or something is, especially by carefully examining all the information about them. Evaluate is often used about the work of people doing research:
The data from the study is still being evaluated.
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The test is used to evaluate the effects of pesticides on domestic bees.
▪ gauge ( also gage American English ) formal to judge people’s opinions or feelings about something, or to measure the effect, importance etc of something. Gauge is often used when talking about getting a general idea of what something is like:
A meeting was arranged in order to gauge the opinions of pupils, parents and teachers.
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It' s too early to gauge the impact of the oil price rises on people’s spending.
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Without further information it is impossible to gauge the full extent of the problem.
▪ appraise formal to judge how successful, effective etc someone or something is, especially by comparing their good and bad points:
Twice a year, managers appraise the performance of employees.
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This research aims to appraise the effectiveness of different kinds of public sector financial assistance.
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On what basis will a teacher be appraised?