convert

verb

1. (transitive)To transform or change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product.

   “A kettle converts water into steam.”

   “1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth if the whole atmosphere were converted into water”

   “That ſtill leſſens / The ſorrow, and converts it nigh to joy.”

   “Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.”

2. (transitive)To change (something) from one use, function, or purpose to another.

   “He converted his garden into a tennis court.”

   ““A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable,[…].”

3. (transitive)To induce (someone) to adopt a particular religion, faith, ideology or belief (see also sense 12).

   “They converted her to Roman Catholicism on her deathbed.”

   “No attempt was made to convert the Moslems.”

   “How little chance, then, should I have against one whose brain was supernaturally sharpened, and who had two thousand years of experience, besides all manner of knowledge of the secrets of Nature at her command! Feeling that she would be more likely to convert me than I should to convert her, I thought it best to leave the matter alone, and so sat silent.”

   “One old chap on a huge slotting machine was intensely religious and made great efforts to convert every young man who came his way.”

4. (transitive)To exchange for something of equal value.

   “We converted our pounds into euros.”

5. (transitive)To express (a quantity) in alternative units.
6. (transitive)To express (a unit of measurement) in terms of another; to furnish a mathematical formula by which a quantity, expressed in the former unit, may be given in the latter.

   “How do you convert feet into metres?”

7. (transitive)To appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully; to commit the common law tort of conversion.

   “The grand jury claims Terrigno "knowingly converted, for the benefit of herself and others, federal funds, which were intended to help the poor and homeless in the Los Angeles area."”

8. (ambitransitive)To score extra points after (a try) by completing a conversion.

   “Flood converted to leave Wales with a 23-9 deficit going into the final quarter.”

9. To score extra points following a touchdown.

   “Bass also kicked field goals of 40 and 49 yards, but he also missed a point-after try, which led to a 2-point conversion that the Bills converted later in the game.”

10. (intransitive, transitive)To score (especially a penalty kick).

    “Hinton, inevitably, converted the penalty.”

    “However, the lead was doubled after the break, when Branislav Ivanovic converted from close range after Fernando Torres had flicked on.”

    “This time Polish goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski was Saints' penalty shootout hero, saving three spot kicks before centre-back Wayne Thomas converted from 12 yards to seal a 6-5 win.”

11. (intransitive)To score a spare.
12. (intransitive)To undergo a conversion of religion, faith or belief (see also sense 3).

    “We've converted to Methodism.”

    “The notion of blood purity was first elaborated in Europe, where it was used to separate Old Christians from Spain’s New Christians—women and men of Jewish and Muslim origin whose ancestors had converted to Christianity.”

13. (intransitive)To become converted.

    “The chair converts into a bed.”

14. (obsolete, transitive)To cause to turn; to turn.

    “O, which way shall I first convert myself?”

15. (transitive)To change (one proposition) into another, so that what was the subject of the first becomes the predicate of the second.
16. (obsolete, transitive)To turn into another language; to translate.

    “which story[…]Catullus more elegantly converted”

17. (transitive)To increase one's individual score, especially from 50 runs (a fifty) to 100 runs (a century), or from a century to a double or triple century.

    “Gillespie was reminded he had promised to join team-mate Matthew Hayden in a nude lap of the ground if he converted his century into a double.”

18. (intransitive)To perform the action that an online advertisement is intended to induce; to reach the point of conversion.

    “Each time a user clicks on one of your adverts, you will be charged the bid amount whether the user converts or not.”

19. (ambitransitive)To transform a material or positional advantage into a win.

    “On the final day Marshall won a pawn as Black from another old rival, Hodges, but couldn't convert it and played on until a drawn king-and-pawn endgame.”

    “In a serious game, the same event often takes place: the attacking side, out of pure inertia, tries to convert an advantage which he or she no longer has, thus giving the defending side winning chances.”

    “Black has survived the attack and is better due to his active king! Many moves later, he converted.”

noun

1. A person who has converted to a religion.

   “They were all converts to Islam.”

   “While still in this relationship, Greene, a convert to Roman Catholicism at 23, was asked to be godfather to Catherine Walston, a 30-year-old married woman, at her own conversion.”

2. A person who is now in favour of something that they previously opposed or disliked.

   “I never really liked broccoli before, but now that I've tasted it the way you cook it, I'm a convert!”

3. Anyone who has converted from being one thing to being another.

   “A great advantage of these temporary conversions of a man into a beast is that it enables the convert in his animal shape to pay out his enemy without being suspected.”

4. (Canadian)The equivalent of a conversion in rugby