qualify

qual|i|fy [ `kwalə,faı ] verb ***

▸ 1 have qualities for something

▸ 2 join profession

▸ 3 reach competition stage

▸ 4 change a statement

▸ 5 in linguistics

1. ) intransitive to have the right qualities or be in the right situation to be considered as something or to receive or do something:

qualify to do something: Only people over the age of 18 are qualified to vote.

qualify as: 90% of the boat people did not qualify as refugees.

qualify for: To qualify for Olympic status, a sport must be played in 50 countries and on three continents.

qualify for a discount/benefit/grant (=have the right to receive one): You may qualify for a study grant.

a ) transitive to make it possible for someone to be considered as something or to receive something:

qualify someone for something: Her income was too high to qualify her for food stamps.

qualify someone to do something: The fact that his grandparents were Irish qualified him to play in the Irish national team.

2. ) intransitive to become a member of a particular profession after a period of training or study:

fully/newly/properly qualified: a fully qualified ski instructor

a ) transitive to give someone the skills they need to become a member of a particular profession:

qualify someone to do something: It is the only course in the country that qualifies you to become a scuba instructor.

3. ) intransitive to reach a particular stage of a competition by competing successfully in an earlier stage:

It would be incredible if Brazil failed to qualify.

qualify for: What are your team's chances of qualifying for the finals?

a qualifying game/tournament/round (=one you need to win to go on to the next stage of a competition): Mexico's World Cup qualifying match against Canada

a ) to make it possible for a person or team to go on to the next stage of a competition:

qualify someone for something: Anke Huber defeated Mana Endo of Japan to qualify Germany for the second round of the World Group Fed Cup.

4. ) transitive to add something to a statement in order to change it slightly or state the situations in which it is not true:

I should qualify the diagnosis by saying that your condition may improve with diet alone.

5. ) transitive LINGUISTICS a word that qualifies another word gives more information about it. For example, in the dog barked furiously, the adverb furiously qualifies the verb barked.