v. t. | 1. | To exchange; to put or substitute something else in place of, as a smaller penalty, obligation, or payment, for a greater, or a single thing for an aggregate; hence, to lessen; to diminish; |
v. i. | 1. | To obtain or bargain for exemption or substitution; to effect a commutation. |
2. | To pay, or arrange to pay, in gross instead of part by part; | |
3. | to travel regularly from a place of residence to another place, such as where one's daily work is performed. Often, such travel is performed between a suburb and a nearby city; |
Verb | 1. | commute - transpose and remain equal in value; "These operators commute with each other" Synonyms: transpose |
2. | commute - travel back and forth regularly, as between one's place of work and home Synonyms: travel back and forth | |
3. | commute - change the order or arrangement of; "Dyslexics often transpose letters in a word" | |
4. | commute - exchange a penalty for a less severe one | |
5. | commute - exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category; "Could you convert my dollars into pounds?"; "He changed his name"; "convert centimeters into inches"; "convert holdings into shares" |
TO COMMUTE. To substitute one punishment in the place of another. For example, if a man be sentenced to be hung, the executive may, in some states, commute his punishment to that of imprisonment.
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