1 [I,T] to take a child into your family and treat him/her as your own child by law 收养；领养: They couldn't have children so they adopted. 他们不能生育，所以就领养孩子。They're hoping to adopt a child. 他们想要领养一个孩子。

2 [T] to take and use sth 采取；采用: What approach did you adopt when dealing with the problem? 你是采用什么办法来处理这个问题的？ ➔adopted adj an adopted child 养子；养女 ➔adoption noun [C,U] The number of adoptions has risen in the past year (= the number of children being adopted). 领养孩子的数目在过去一年有所增加。