I. join 1 S1 W1 /dʒɔɪn/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: joindre , from Latin jungere ]
1 . GROUP/ORGANIZATION [transitive] to become a member of an organization, society, or group:
When did you join the Labour Party?
I decided to join the army.
You can enjoy a sport without joining a club or belonging to a team.
2 . ACTIVITY [transitive] to begin to take part in an activity that other people are involved in:
Many sacrificed their weekend to join the hunt for the missing girl.
the benefits of joining our pension scheme
Church leaders have joined the campaign to end foxhunting.
3 . GO TO SOMEBODY [transitive] to go somewhere in order to be with someone or do something with them:
She joined her aunt in the sitting room.
The immigrants were soon joined by their wives and children.
► Do not say ‘join with’ someone. Join is always followed by an object in this sense : I’ll join you later.
4 . DO SOMETHING TOGETHER [intransitive and transitive] to do something together with someone else, or as a group
join somebody for something
I invited them to join us for a glass of wine.
join (with) somebody in doing something
I’m sure you’ll all join me in thanking today’s speaker.
join (with) somebody to do something
Parents have joined with health experts to produce a video for bereaved families.
join together
Three police forces have joined together to buy a helicopter.
5 . CONNECT
a) [transitive] to connect or fasten things together:
Join the two pieces of wood with strong glue.
join something to something
The island is joined to the mainland by a causeway.
b) [intransitive and transitive] if two roads, rivers etc join, they come together and become connected at a particular point:
Finally, we arrived at Dartmouth, where the River Dart joins the sea.
the point where the two roads join
6 . join a queue British English , join a line American English to go and stand at the end of a line of people:
He went in and joined the queue for the toilets.
7 . join hands if people join hands, they hold each other’s hands:
They joined hands and danced round and round.
8 . join the club spoken used to say that you and a lot of other people are in the same situation:
‘I’m having difficulty knowing what today’s debate is about.’ ‘Join the club, Geoffrey.’
9 . join battle formal to begin fighting
10 . be joined in marriage/holy matrimony formal to be married
11 . be joined at the hip informal if two people are joined at the hip, they are always together and are very friendly – often used to show disapproval
⇨ join/combine forces at ↑ force 1 (10), ⇨ if you can’t beat 'em, join 'em at ↑ beat 1 (23)
• • •
THESAURUS (for Meaning 5)
■ to join things together
▪ join to make two things come together and stay in that position. Join is used about fixing two things together permanently, so that they form a single thing:
Doctors used a metal rod to join the two pieces of bone together.
▪ attach to join one thing to another, so that it stays in position. Attach is often used when you can separate the two things later:
She attached the photo to the letter with a paper clip.
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The boards are attached with nails.
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On the wall, attached with adhesive tape, was a New York City subway map.
▪ connect ( also connect up ) to join pieces of equipment together, especially with a wire or pipe, so that electricity, gas, water etc can pass from one to another:
Have you connected up the speakers to the stereo?
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The hoses that connect the radiator to the engine are leaking.
▪ link ( also link up ) to connect machines, systems, computers etc, so that electronic signals can pass from one to another:
All the office PCs are linked to the main server.
join in (something) phrasal verb
to take part in something that a group of people are doing or that someone else does:
In the evening there was a barbecue, with the whole village joining in the fun.
He stared at them without joining in the conversation.
He laughed loudly, and Mattie joined in.
join up phrasal verb
1 . to become a member of the army, navy, or air force
2 . British English to connect things, or to become connected
join something ↔ up
The dots are joined up by a line.
join up with somebody/something phrasal verb
to combine with or meet other people in order to do something:
Three months ago, they joined up with another big company that sells arms.
II. join 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
a place where two parts of an object are connected or fastened together:
It’s been glued back together so well you can hardly see the join.