became

became

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈkeɪm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪm

Hyphenation: be‧came

Verb

became

1. simple past tense of become
2. (colloquial, nonstandard) past participle of become
   • 1768, William Murray, A ſhort examination into the conduct of Lord M--f--d through the affair of Mr. Wilkes‎, Staples Steare, page 13:

     […] and had the outlawry been confirmed, he muſt not only have remained ſo, but all his eſtate and effects (if any there were) would have became forfeited to the crown.

   • 1896, William Temple Hornaday, The Man who Became a Savage: A Story of Our Own Times‎, Peter Paul Book Company, page 31:

     […] In this very city, the jury box has became so corrupted that it is impossible to convict men of the gross outrages they inflicted on voters at the polls last election day.”

   • 2007 January 26, Ruth M. J. Byrne, The Rational Imagination: How People Create Alternatives to Reality‎, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 140:

     Suppose you are given the semifactual assertion, "even if Nora had liked mathematics then she would have became a scientist" and then you find out that Nora did in fact become a scientist.

Anagrams

• MacBee, Macbee, McAbee