"Design" is primarily a transitive verb. An easy test for that is to use the verb in a first-person statement and see if the statement is complete without an object. If someone says "I design", the obvious response is, "Design what???" "Design" by itself isn't informative; it needs an object to make a complete statement, e.g. "I design airplane flight controls" or "I design circuit boards".
In fact I can't think of any use of "design" as a verb that is intransitive!
Comments by roymond
roymond commented on the word design
"Design" is primarily a transitive verb. An easy test for that is to use the verb in a first-person statement and see if the statement is complete without an object. If someone says "I design", the obvious response is, "Design what???" "Design" by itself isn't informative; it needs an object to make a complete statement, e.g. "I design airplane flight controls" or "I design circuit boards".
In fact I can't think of any use of "design" as a verb that is intransitive!
July 25, 2023