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v. qual·i·fied, qual·i·fy·ing, qual·i·fies v.tr. 1. a. To make competent or eligible for an office, position, or task: Your experience qualifies you for this job. b. To declare competent or capable, as to practice a profession; certify: This diploma qualifies you to teach in public schools. c. To render deserving of a descriptor by having or enumerating certain necessary characteristics: Do the student's ongoing difficulties in class qualify his situation as a medical problem? 2. a. To modify, limit, or restrict, as by listing exceptions or reservations: I would qualify my praise of his enthusiasm with a warning about rashness. b. To make less harsh or severe; moderate: I qualified my criticism to avoid offending anyone. See Synonyms at moderate. 3. Grammar To modify the meaning of (a noun, for example). v.intr. 1. To be or become qualified: The performance qualifies as one of the best I've ever seen. 2. To reach the later stages of a selection process or contest by competing successfully in earlier rounds. [From French qualifier (from Old French) and from Middle English qualifien, to specify the time and place of a document's execution, both from Medieval Latin quālificāre, to attribute a quality to : Latin quālis, of such a kind; see QUALITY + Latin -ficāre, -fy.] quali·fi′a·ble adj. |
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