compare

verb

• 1estimate, measure, or note the similarity or dissimilarity between:individual schools compared their facilities with those of others in the area the survey compares prices in different countries total attendance figures were 28,000, compared to 40,000 at last year’s event
• (compare something to) point out the resemblances to; liken to:her novel was compared to the work of Daniel Defoe
• (compare something to) draw an analogy between one thing and (another) for the purposes of explanation or clarification:he compared the religions to different paths toward the peak of the same mountain
• [no object] have a specified relationship with another thing or person in terms of nature or quality:salaries compare favorably with those of other professions
• [no object] be of an equal or similar nature or quality:sales were modest and cannot compare with the glory days of 1989

• 2 (usually be compared) Grammar form the comparative and superlative degrees of (an adjective or an adverb):words of one syllable are usually compared by “-er” and “-est.”