Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To form or establish a colony or colonies in.
  • intransitive verb To migrate to and settle in; occupy as a colony.
  • intransitive verb To resettle or confine (persons) in or as if in a colony.
  • intransitive verb To subjugate (a population) to or as if to a colonial government.
  • intransitive verb To form or establish a colony.
  • intransitive verb To settle in a colony or colonies.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To plant or establish a colony in; occupy with a colony or colonies: as, England colonized Australia.
  • To form a colony of; establish in a new settlement; settle together as a body: as, to colonize the surplus population; to colonize laborers in a mining region.
  • To migrate to and settle in, especially as the first or the principal inhabitants; occupy as a colony: as, English Puritans colonized New England.
  • To place or settle for the time being in a voting-precinct so as to be able to vote at an election: as, to colonize voters.
  • To form a colony; congregate in a new settlement: as, to colonize in India.
  • Also colonise.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To remove to, and settle in, a distant country; to make a colony.
  • transitive verb To plant or establish a colony or colonies in; to people with colonists; to migrate to and settle in.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb American Alternative spelling of colonise.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb settle as colonists or establish a colony (in)
  • verb settle as a colony; of countries in the developing world

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Like there is no inherent reason, nor drive to 'colonize' the bottom of the Marianne Trench in the Pacific.

    Why the Moon? Here's Why. - NASA Watch 2009

  • The last Quebec Supermarket chain which displayed a similar ignorance and arrogance about Ontario that was called "Maxi Plus", bankrupted itself seeking to "colonize" Toronto.

    Metro Inc. plans to cancel Dominion Name in Ontario at the prospective expense of shareholders 2008

  • Even in an attempt to counter the notion of export led growth and contraction in the textile industry, statements such as these in a sense "colonize" caste and make it serve the master of the model.

    Colonial Lists/Indian Power: Identity Politics in Nineteenth Century Telugu-Speaking India 2001

  • It sounds odd to hear the word "colonize" characterized as obscure-it had been in use from Bacon's time, 1622; and is one of our commonest and most generally understood words.

    Benjamin Franklin and Canada 1923

  • Foursquare is a game that allows users to "colonize" their city.

    ARN News 2010

  • While some may argue that it's no big deal for people to know you're not at home, since you're not saying where your home is, PleaseRobMe points out that other friends might be trying to "colonize" your home via Foursquare.

    ARN News 2010

  • The site is constantly updated with "new opportunities," and you can filter the search results by location or Twitter username. that allows users to "colonize" their city.

    PCWorld 2010

  • While some may argue that it's no big deal for people to know you're not at home, since you're not saying where your home is, PleaseRobMe points out that other friends might be trying to "colonize" your home via Foursquare.

    ARN News 2010

  • While some may argue that it's no big deal for people to know you're not at home, since you're not saying where your home is, PleaseRobMe points out that other friends might be trying to "colonize" your home via Foursquare.

    PCWorld 2010

  • To study Western Civilization is to affirm your intent to "colonize" weaker nations and peoples.

    EducationNews.org 2010

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