decide

decide against (someone or something)

1. To choose not to accept someone. Yes, Holly was a strong candidate, but we ultimately decided against her for the job.
2. To choose not to do something. I was so tired that I decided against going out with my friends tonight.
See also: decide

decide among (someone or something)

To choose someone or something from three or more options. We've had so many good candidates for the job that I'm having a very hard time deciding among them.
See also: among, decide

decide between (someone or something)

To choose someone or something when given two options. Holly and Jack are both such good candidates for the job that I'm having a hard time deciding between them.
See also: between, decide

decide for (someone or something)

To rule favorably for someone or something. My client will almost certainly go to jail if the judge doesn't decide for him.
See also: decide

decide in favor of (someone or something)

To rule favorably for someone or something. My client will almost certainly go to jail if the judge doesn't decide in favor of him.
See also: decide, favor, of

decide on (someone or something)

To choose someone or something, usually after a period of deliberation. Yes, Holly was a strong candidate, but we ultimately decided on someone else for the job opening. After agonizing over the menu, I finally decided on mint chocolate chip ice cream.
See also: decide, on
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

decide against someone or something

to rule against someone or something; to make a judgment against someone or something. We decided against Tom and chose Larry instead. Jane decided against the supplier.
See also: decide

decide among (someone and someone else)

 and decide among (something and something else)
to choose from three or more people; to choose from three or more things. I couldn't decide among all the choices on the menu. I will decide among Fred, Tom, and Alice.
See also: among, decide

decide between (someone and someone else)

 and decide between (something and something else)
to choose one from two people; to choose one from two things. I could not decide between Tom and Wally. We could not decide between those two.
See also: between, decide

decide for someone or something

to rule in favor of someone or something; to make a judgment for someone or something. The jury decided for the plaintiff. The judge decided for me.
See also: decide

decide in favor of someone or something

to determine that someone or something is the winner. The judge decided in favor of the defendant. I decided in favor of the red one.
See also: decide, favor, of

decide (up)on someone or something

to choose someone or something; to make a judgment about some aspect of someone or something. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) Will you please hurry up and decide upon someone to vote for? I decided on chocolate.
See also: decide, on
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

decide on

or decide upon
v.
To choose something or someone after deliberation: We decided on green as the color for the nursery. I've decided upon the red shoes; you can put the black ones back.
See also: decide, on
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • decide against
  • decide against (someone or something)
  • decided
  • prefer
  • prefer (someone or something) to (someone or something else)
  • prefer to
  • choose from
  • choose from (people or things)
  • choose
  • choose among (people or things)
References in periodicals archive
Now they have problems in interconnection negotiations, problems with the terms that the dominant carrier is requiring in order to conclude interconnection negotiations, and the government is going to have to decide.
"It takes an area where we had a fairly bright line threshold for determining liability, and confusing it by letting a jury decide case by case if an unknown assailant could have been someone from outside the building as opposed to another tenant or guest," said Margulies.
Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the imposition of Tennessee sales tax on leased international cargo containers is permissible (Itel Containers International Corp.
In some situations, the consequences could prove significant enough that the administrator may decide not to use the deception.
* Decide which responsibilities will be yours and which will be those of the consultant.
Billy and Alison decide they should stop sleeping together until they are married.
Some employers, therefore, may decide to maintain current benefit levels and provisions for all employees who will retire over, say, the next five years, but completely redesign the plan for everyone else.
Kenneth Glassberg, director of pediatric urology at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, believes that "letting an individual decide his or her own sex, when older, is too great a burden.
For example, each police department had to decide when to tape interrogations, whether tapes should be made overtly or covertly, how the use of tapes affected prosecutors' and defense attorneys' case preparation and court proceedings, and how the taping influenced the interviewers' choice of interrogation tactics.
Because many firms don't have the strategic planning tools they need to help them choose specializations, they find it increasingly difficult to decide what business they are in and, even more important, which business they should be in.
"I think it's a carefully thought out case and fair that the judge leaves the rent to the DHCR to decide," said Mary Ann Rothman, executive director of the Council of New York Cooperatives.
He said the defence team was under the impression that the court would decide the cases together but the court went ahead 'without recalling any of the earlier orders or recording any reason whatsoever for deviating from the same'.
The Supreme Court has instructed lower courts that the first step in determining qualified immunity is to decide whether the plaintiff alleges a constitutional violation at all.(18) Thus, attorneys representing law enforcement officials and prosecutors should be wary of attempts by plaintiffs to fashion common law defamation or negligence claims into an alleged constitutional violation.
It is beneficial for tenants to intervene because they would be able to stay and MCI increase until the case was decide. Notices to the class were never sent out, however, leaving a question as to who is affected by Judge Wilk's current decision.
LAHORE -- A Lahore High Court full bench on Wednesday ruled that the registrar office had no jurisdiction to decide maintainability of a petition when filed, however, [it] could raise objections regarding technical shortcomings.