Webster's English Dictionary

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analyze

an.a.lyze or an.a.lyse \'an-*l-.i-z\ vt [prob.irreg. fr. analysis] chiefly 
   Brit  1: to study or determine the nature and relationship of the parts of 
   by analysis {~ a traffic pattern} 2: to subject to scientific or 
   grammatical analysis  3: PSYCHOANALYZE ts separating or distinguishing the 
   component parts of something (as a substance, a process, a situation) so as 
   to discover its true nature or inner relationships; RESOLVE does not 
   commonly presuppose a personal agent and often suggests a permanent 
   physical separation into parts with consequent alteration of the original 
   whole; DISSECT suggests a searching analysis by laying bare parts or pieces 
   for individual scrutiny; BREAK DOWN implies a reducing to simpler parts or 
   divisions - an.a.lyz.er n SYN syn RESOLVE, DISSECT, BREAK DOWN: ANALYZE 
   sugges