as in served
to have a certain purpose
the heart functions as a pump for the blood
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of functioned
In a world where information was scarce, experience functioned as a map.
—
Nirit Cohen, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Institutions that once functioned for the benefit of the public are now sclerotic, having been partly dismantled, or seem indifferent to suffering.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2025
Google’s navigation and smartphone pairing functioned well.
—Mark Phelan, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
Operated by Southern California Regional Rail Authority, a joint powers authority with leadership from Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties, Metrolink has historically functioned to bring commuters from across the region into downtown Los Angeles.
—Liz Ohanesian, Oc Register, 9 Sep. 2025
Roman bathhouses – which functioned as important community spaces in antiquity – are still being discovered across Europe and Asia Minor today.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 8 Sep. 2025
The systematic denial of financial services to Black Americans — through redlining, segregation, and discriminatory banking and insurance practices — functioned as a form of domestic economic sanctions.
—Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 31 Aug. 2025
The poem functioned as a talisman to these students, offering a vision of a possible future, where mutual aid and solidarity across difference told an alternative story to the one skewed by both corporate and rightwing media.
—Philip Metres
august 27, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025
And the researchers found no evidence of harmful build-up in the liver, suggesting this cholesterol clearing system functioned as usual.
—New Atlas, 26 Aug. 2025
Nirit Cohen, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Institutions that once functioned for the benefit of the public are now sclerotic, having been partly dismantled, or seem indifferent to suffering.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2025
Google’s navigation and smartphone pairing functioned well.
—Mark Phelan, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
Operated by Southern California Regional Rail Authority, a joint powers authority with leadership from Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties, Metrolink has historically functioned to bring commuters from across the region into downtown Los Angeles.
—Liz Ohanesian, Oc Register, 9 Sep. 2025
Roman bathhouses – which functioned as important community spaces in antiquity – are still being discovered across Europe and Asia Minor today.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 8 Sep. 2025
The systematic denial of financial services to Black Americans — through redlining, segregation, and discriminatory banking and insurance practices — functioned as a form of domestic economic sanctions.
—Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 31 Aug. 2025
The poem functioned as a talisman to these students, offering a vision of a possible future, where mutual aid and solidarity across difference told an alternative story to the one skewed by both corporate and rightwing media.
—Philip Metres
august 27, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025
And the researchers found no evidence of harmful build-up in the liver, suggesting this cholesterol clearing system functioned as usual.
—New Atlas, 26 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for functioned
Verb
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Employers Are Rewriting the Rules On College Degrees A degree once served as a shorthand signal.—
Sarah Hernholm,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
-
Stubblefield had served on both the budget committee and Legislative Council.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Once the move was official for Iamaleava, the transfer signing essentially acted as the college football equivalent of a trade.—
Tyler Small,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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That prospect flared up for Seoane as the home fans whistled and booed at the final whistle, and became reality on Monday when the club’s board acted.—
Greg O'Keeffe,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Rec was founded in 2022 by Birju Kadakia and Rachel Williams, who worked together at Uber in the mid-2010s.—
Tim Casey,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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Getting the final minty shade, one that worked well on all Fitzpatrick skin tones, took more than 20 variations.—
Megan McIntyre,
Allure,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Functioned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/functioned. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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