composed; composing
1
a
: to form by putting together : fashion
a committee composed of three representatives—
Current Biography
Current Biography
b
: to form the substance of : constitute
composed of many ingredients
c
: to produce (columns, pages of type, etc.) by composition
2
a
: to create by mental or artistic labor : produce
compose a sonnet
b(1)
: to formulate and write (a piece of music)
composed a symphony
(2)
: to compose music for
3
: to deal with or act on so as to reduce to a minimum
compose their differences
4
: to arrange in proper or orderly form
The two men had laid him on the bed, and composed his limbs.—Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
: to practice composition (as of literary, musical, or typographical work)
At the age of 10, he was composing at the piano.
Examples of compose in a Sentence
She composed a letter to her sister.
He is in his studio composing.
Recent Examples on the Web
Rushing attacks are complex machines composed of 10 moving parts on every snap.
—Robert Mays, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
Mikel Arteta’s side have looked composed and confident, with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli providing width and pace, while Martin Ødegaard continues to dictate play through midfield.
—Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
Large language models, composed of artificial neural networks trained on vast amounts of data, enable Perplexity to understand and respond to prompts.
—PC Magazine, 25 Oct. 2025
The tiara, according to the Louvre, is composed of 212 pearls of various sizes and nearly 2,000 diamonds.
—Lilia Geho, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for compose
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Robert Mays, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
Mikel Arteta’s side have looked composed and confident, with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli providing width and pace, while Martin Ødegaard continues to dictate play through midfield.
—Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
Large language models, composed of artificial neural networks trained on vast amounts of data, enable Perplexity to understand and respond to prompts.
—PC Magazine, 25 Oct. 2025
The tiara, according to the Louvre, is composed of 212 pearls of various sizes and nearly 2,000 diamonds.
—Lilia Geho, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for compose
Cite this Entry
“Compose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compose. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
compose
verb
com·pose
kəm-ˈpōz 
composed; composing
1
a
: to form by putting together : fashion
b
: to form the substance of : constitute
a stew composed of many ingredients
c
: to arrange type in order for printing : set
2
: to create by mental or artistic labor
compose a song
3
: to arrange in proper form
4
: to make calm
composed himself
compose your feelings
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