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to make suitable to requirements or conditions; adjust or modify fittingly:
they adapted themselves to the change quickly. he adapted the novel for movies.
to adjust oneself to different conditions, environment, etc.:
to adapt easily to all circ-mstances.
contemporary examples

and just like the 2012 election, by the time electoral realities force conservatives to adapt, it may already be too late.
after a crushing defeat, the religious right still won’t get it right david sessions november 10, 2012

it can help the most vulnerable to adapt to changes already under way.
shocking climate-change photos ban ki-moon october 12, 2009

by the fall of 2007 we had a deal in place, with david to adapt.
silver linings playbook’s silver lining–honest talk about mental illness mich-lle raimo kouyate, renee witt february 17, 2013

cbs, nbc, and eventually abc managed to adapt from radio to the new media.
how to save newspapers peter osnos december 8, 2008

media people, always on perpetual deadline, can adapt even to the most arid surroundings.
tropical storm isaac sidelines media elite at the republican convention lauren ashburn august 27, 2012

historical examples

this condition will soon be remedied as the rings become polished and adapt themselves to the contour of the cylinder.
aviation engines victor wilfred pag

she had changed her methods suddenly, and he had had no time to adapt himself to them.
the avenger e. phillips oppenheim

marriage is such a risk, ethel, but to marry without the courage to adapt oneself.
the man between amelia e. barr

there are also men who adapt themselves p-ssively and are easily molded.
the s-xual question august forel

precisely what a species through thousands of generations of selection and survival might adapt itself to, is an open question.
mars and its mystery edward sylvester morse

verb
(often foll by to) to adjust (someone or something, esp oneself) to different conditions, a new environment, etc
(transitive) to fit, change, or modify to suit a new or different purpose: to adapt a play for use in schools
v.

early 15c. (implied in adapted) “to fit (something, for some purpose),” from middle french adapter (14c.), from latin adaptare “adjust,” from ad- “to” (see ad-) + aptare “join,” from aptus “fitted” (see apt). meaning “to undergo modification so as to fit new circ-mstances” (intransitive) is from 1956. related: adapting.

language
a subset of apt.
[sammet 1969, p. 606].
(1995-02-14)
american disabled for attendant programs today