List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 212

SYNONYMS: join, combine, unite, link, connect, relate, associate.
These verbs mean to fasten or affix or become fastened or affixed.

Join applies to the physical contact, connection, or union of at least two separate things and to the coming together of persons, as into a group: The children joined hands. Join the panels of fabric at the selvages. Join the union.
Combine suggests the mixing or merging of components, often for a specific or shared purpose: The cook combined cream, sugar, and vanilla to make a topping. When bad men combine, the good must associate.
Unite stresses the coherence or oneness of the persons or things joined: Can strips of plastic be united with epoxy? The attack on their country united the squabbling political factions.
Link and connect imply a firm attachment in which individual components nevertheless retain their identities: linked poverty and unemployment to the social unrest besetting the city. The chief of police is in no way connected with the scandal.
Relate refers to connection of persons through marriage or kinship (Though they have the same surname, the two are not even distantly related) or of things through logical association (The two events seem to be related).
Associate usually implies a relationship of persons as partners or allies: His daughter is associated with him in the family business. It can also refer to a relationship of things that are similar or complementary or that have a connection in one's thoughts: I can forgive his bluntness because it is associated with a basic kindliness.