I. judge 1 S2 W2 /dʒʌdʒ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ judge , judg(e)ment; verb : ↑ judge ; adjective : judg(e)mental]
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: juge , from Latin judex ]
1 . the official in control of a court, who decides how criminals should be punished:
The trial judge specifies the number of years to be spent in prison.
federal judge/high court judge etc (=a judge in a particular court)
2 . someone who decides on the result of a competition:
The panel of judges included several well-known writers.
3 . a good/bad judge of something someone whose opinion on something is usually right or wrong:
Sandra’s a very good judge of character.
4 . be the judge (of something) to be the person whose opinion on something matters or is accepted:
No one else can say what its value to you is – only you can be the judge of that.
5 . let me be the judge of that spoken used to tell someone angrily that you do not need their advice
6 . be judge and jury ( also act as judge and jury ) to make or have the power to make an important decision affecting someone by yourself – used showing disapproval
7 . as sober as a judge someone who is as sober as a judge is not drunk at all
II. judge 2 S3 W3 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle judged , present participle judging )
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ judge , judg(e)ment; verb : ↑ judge ; adjective : judg(e)mental]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: jugier , from Latin judicare , from judex ; ⇨ ↑ judge 1 ]
1 . OPINION [intransitive and transitive] to form or give an opinion about someone or something after thinking carefully about all the information you know about them:
You should never judge a person by their looks.
Judge us on the improvements we make in the economy.
The therapist judged that Margaret had made a serious attempt to kill herself.
pollutants that were judged hazardous to human health
I am in no position to judge whether what she is doing is right or wrong.
The economic results of the reforms are very difficult to judge.
The likelihood of future bombs was impossible to judge.
We judge the success of a product by the number of sales it brings in.
His conduct, judged objectively by what he has done, is dishonest.
Robert wanted to go and help him, but judged it best to stay where he was.
Do not judge her too harshly, as she was very young at the time.
2 . judging by/from something used to say that you are making a guess based on what you have just seen, heard, or learned:
Judging by his jovial manner, he must have enjoyed his meal.
Judging from what you say in your letter, you don’t sound well.
3 . COMPETITION [intransitive and transitive] to decide on the result of a competition:
I had the difficult task of judging the competition.
judge somebody on something
Competitors will be judged on speed and accuracy.
4 . CRITICIZE [intransitive and transitive] to form an opinion about someone, especially in an unfair or criticizing way:
He just accepts people for what they are and he doesn’t judge them.
5 . LAW [transitive] to decide whether someone is guilty of a crime in court
6 . it’s not for somebody to judge used to say that you do not think someone has the right to give their opinion about something:
Was it the right decision? It’s not for us to judge.
7 . as far as I can judge used to say that you think what you are saying is true, but you are not sure
8 . don’t judge a book by its cover used to say that you should not form an opinion based only on the way something looks
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COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ be difficult/hard to judge
The economic results of the reforms are difficult to judge.
▪ be impossible to judge
How much this affected their children was impossible to judge.
▪ judge something objectively (=by looking at the facts)
His behaviour, judged objectively by what he has done, is dishonest.
▪ judge somebody harshly (=in a severe or unkind way)
Do not judge her too harshly; she was very young at the time.
▪ judge something correctly
It takes a lot of experience to judge correctly what is needed.
▪ judge something a success/failure (=consider it to be a success/failure)
The concert was judged a success.
▪ judge something on its merits (=according to what you see when you look at it, rather than what people tell you)
The arguments should be judged on their merits.
▪ judge something on the basis of something (=by considering something)
It is difficult to judge progress on the basis of a single day.
▪ judge it best/better to do something (=think that something is the best thing to do)
Robert wanted to go and help him, but judged it best to stay where he was.
▪ judge it safe to do something (=consider that it is safe to do something)
He listened for some time before judging it safe to go downstairs.
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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?