colonize
verb
col·o·nize
| \ ˈkä-lə-ˌnīz
\
\
colonized;
colonizing
Definition of colonize
1a
: to establish a colony in or on or of
colonize an island
b
: to establish in a colony
the rights of colonized people
2
: to send illegal or irregularly qualified voters into
colonizing doubtful districts
3
: to infiltrate with usually subversive militants for propaganda and strategy reasons
colonize industries
: to make or establish a colony : settle
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Examples of colonize in a Sentence
The area was colonized in the 18th century.
Weeds quickly colonized the field.
The island had been colonized by plants and animals.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Some critics argued that the political overtones in the book proved that Roy’s activism had now fully colonized her literary imagination. — Bilal Qureshi, Washington Post, "Arundhati Roy — beloved for her fiction, derided for her politics — won’t be silenced," 23 Aug. 2019 Portuguese explorers aimed to spread Catholicism in Africa, colonize both people and land, and grow rich. — National Geographic, "400 years ago, enslaved Africans first arrived in Virginia," 13 Aug. 2019 Many Maya here continue to farm, live and dress according to indigenous traditions developed millennia before the Spanish colonized the Americas. — Gabriel Diaz Montemayor, The Conversation, "Mexico wants to run a tourist train through its Mayan heartland — should it?," 13 Aug. 2019 Landing astronauts on Mars is just the first step; many people hope humans can establish a permanent settlement on the planet, and, eventually, colonize the world. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "This Material May Make Human Habitation on Mars Possible," 18 July 2019 Goa, India’s smallest state that was originally colonized by the Portuguese, is a popular tourist destination set between the Arabian Sea and the mountain range of the Western Ghats. — James Gorman, New York Times, "Rabies Kills Tens of Thousands Yearly. Vaccinating Dogs Could Stop It.," 22 July 2019 Having been colonized by the Dutch, French and British, the people of Mauritius are multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual. — Danielle Pointdujour, Essence, "Black Travel Vibes: This Sexy Mauritius Getaway Is A Whole Vibe," 22 July 2019 Bezos recently revealed that his company Blue Origin developed a new lunar lander that will help advance the ambitious entrepreneur’s goal of colonizing other planets as humanity’s energy demands increasingly tax Earth. — Ephrat Livni, Quartz, "As Jeff Bezos ponders space travel, Amazon executives move out of the shadows," 9 June 2019 By that year, waterwheels had colonized the edges of Big Pond in New York. — Marion Renault, New York Times, "This Carnivorous Plant Invaded New York. That May Be Its Only Hope.," 13 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'colonize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for colonize
colonize
verb
English Language Learners Definition of colonize
: to create a colony in or on (a place) : to take control of (an area) and send people to live there
: to move into and live in (a place) as a new type of plant or animal
See the full definition for colonize in the English Language Learners Dictionary
colonize
verb
col·o·nize
| \ ˈkä-lə-ˌnīz
\
\
colonized;
colonizing
Kids Definition of colonize
1
: to establish a colony in or on
2
: to settle in a colony
colonize
verb
col·o·nize
| \ ˈkäl-ə-ˌnīz
\
\
colonized;
colonizing
Medical Definition of colonize
1
: to establish a colony in or on
the parasitic roundworms…have succeeded in colonizing a great variety of hosts— W. H. Dowdeswell
2
: to isolate in supervised groups
of microorganisms
: to become established in a habitat (as a host or a wound)
these bacteria in turn colonize in other parts of the body— R. A. Runnells
Other Words from colonize
colonization
\ ˌkäl-ə-nə-ˈzā-shən
\
noun
\
noun
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