crystallize

American  

[kris-tl-ahyz] / ˈkrɪs tlˌaɪz /

especially British, crystallise

verb (used with object)

• crystallizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crystallized,
  past participle,  past
• crystallizing
  present participle

1. to form into crystals; cause to assume crystalline form.

2. to give definite or concrete form to.

   to crystallize an idea.

3. to coat with sugar.

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verb (used without object)

• crystallizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crystallized,
  past participle,  past
• crystallizing
  present participle

1. to form crystals; become crystalline in form.

2. to assume definite or concrete form.

crystallize British  

/ ˈkrɪstəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. to form or cause to form crystals; assume or cause to assume a crystalline form or structure

2. to coat or become coated with sugar

   crystallized fruit

3. to give a definite form or expression to (an idea, argument, etc) or (of an idea, argument, etc) to assume a recognizable or definite form

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• crystallizability
  noun
• crystallization
  noun
• crystallizer
  noun
• crystallizable
  adjective
• noncrystallizable
  adjective
• noncrystallized
  adjective
• noncrystallizing
  adjective
• uncrystallizable
  adjective
• uncrystallized
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• crystallizing
  present
• crystallized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• crystallize
  simple
• crystallizes
  simple
• have crystallized
  perfect
• has crystallized
  perfect
• am crystallizing
  progressive
• are crystallizing
  progressive
• is crystallizing
  progressive
• have been crystallizing
  perfect progressive
• has been crystallizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• crystallized
  simple
• had crystallized
  perfect
• was crystallizing
  progressive
• were crystallizing
  progressive
• had been crystallizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will crystallize
  simple
• will have crystallized
  perfect
• will be crystallizing
  progressive
• will have been crystallizing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of crystallize

First recorded in 1590–1600; crystall- + -ize

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crystallize crystallizes crystallized crystallizing

“Maybe in 24 hours, when things crystallize with the deal.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

Strong demand, solid early performances and improving profitability outlooks will crystallize the sector’s hold on markets and strengthen the industry’s case to skeptics.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

Materials containing magnesium and calcium often form hard, dense crusts when they crystallize.

From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026

A new world of opportunities is starting to crystallize for them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

My butterflies kick me, jab me with their flags, making the reality of Rhys, the parts of him I chose to not see so that I could see what I wanted, crystallize in my mind.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

As more material crystallizes, silicon dioxide becomes increasingly concentrated in the remaining melt.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026

“This situation perfectly crystallizes the global nature of infectious diseases,” Bhadelia said.

From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026

A new AP-NORC poll released this week crystallizes the public’s pessimism.

From Barron's ● Dec. 16, 2025

But poetry helps them cope, and in Dawson’s eyes, this is where the message of the film crystallizes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2024

The reality crystallizes for me, though, when Dad instructs us to take off our blindfolds and Debbie and Zara are standing in front of us.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

“This could fill an enormous gap in our knowledge of protein structures that can’t be crystallized or are too small for today’s cryo-EM. And it will be revolutionary for cryo-ET.”

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

The study crystallized what kindergarten and elementary school teachers are also seeing: High-quality education that starts earlier gives students a better foundation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

I asked Richard to explain and give us the crystallized version of his story.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

"There's not a consensus, by any means, that's crystallized in the United States on what, if anything, to do about AI," he said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

Maybe after many, many offerings a priest noticed that if the juice of the cane was boiled in the right way, it crystallized into sweet, dark brown clumps.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson

It also fears crystallizing financial losses on its portfolio by selling bonds, preferring to realize losses slowly by paying more interest on reserves than it earns on bonds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

Villarreal: “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight” open with these crystallizing moments for the main characters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

There’s always been more to Garrone’s movies than unkindness, but he has a striking facility for crystallizing human baseness in images that are both specific and laden with surplus meaning.

From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2024

Researchers leveraged state-of-the-art cryogenic electron microscopy to reveal the structure in its natural state, rather than earlier techniques that required crystallizing vast quantities of identical molecules to form an artificial picture of their native structure.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2023

At least we didn’t have to store the honey in a special hot room to keep it from crystallizing, because every room we had was a hot room.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

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