optimize
Americanverb (used with object)
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optimizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
optimized,
past participle, past
-
optimizing
present participle
-
to make as effective, perfect, or useful as possible.
-
to make the best of.
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Computers. to write or rewrite (the instructions in a program) so as to maximize efficiency and speed in retrieval, storage, or execution.
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Mathematics. to determine the maximum or minimum values of (a specified function that is subject to certain constraints).
verb (used without object)
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optimizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
optimized,
past participle, past
-
optimizing
present participle
verb
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(tr) to take the full advantage of
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(tr) to plan or carry out (an economic activity) with maximum efficiency
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(intr) to be optimistic
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(tr) to write or modify (a computer program) to achieve maximum efficiency in storage capacity, time, cost, etc
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(tr) to find the best compromise among several often conflicting requirements, as in engineering design
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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optimizesimple
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optimizessimple
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have optimizedperfect
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has optimizedperfect
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am optimizingprogressive
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are optimizingprogressive
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is optimizingprogressive
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have been optimizingperfect progressive
-
has been optimizingperfect progressive
Past
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optimizedsimple
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had optimizedperfect
-
was optimizingprogressive
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were optimizingprogressive
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had been optimizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of optimize
Explanation
Optimize means to make the best possible use of something. If you optimize your home storage capacity, you clean and organize your closets and drawers to be able to fit the most in. Before the advent of the Internet, the word optimize was mostly used to describe the act of being really positive about the world, or being an optimist. But today one can scarcely hear the word without thinking about how to optimize a website or make it as efficient as possible. SEO, standing for "search engine optimization," refers to this process of optimizing a website to make it appear more frequently in web searches.
Vocabulary lists containing optimize
Engineering - Introductory
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Engineering: Defining Problems and Designing Solutions - Introductory
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Mathematical Modeling
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“This decision will optimize our store network and allocate resources more effectively to better serve our customers,” the company said in an email.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
“As our strong operating results and adjusted free cash flow demonstrate, FedEx is winning across high-value market segments while we optimize our network, driving an increase to our full-year outlook,” Chief Executive Raj Subramaniam said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
By identifying another way excessive RNA can affect cellular health, the findings may help researchers optimize future RNA-based therapies and vaccines.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026
Wrongful termination claims in the tech world are common immediately preceding large funding rounds as investors seek to optimize financial metrics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
The university had a reputation for spawning world-class scientists exploring how to optimize use of technology in airplanes and in the military, in the tradition of Broadbent and Dr. Treisman.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
He expects Nestlé’s revenue growth to reaccelerate as it optimizes its portfolio around areas like coffee and pet care.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Mattel said the job cuts are part of an effort to save money as the company optimizes for growth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
To Joel Lewenstein, head of product design at Anthropic, AI slop is “generic content, undifferentiated content — something that optimizes for volume and passive consumption over everything else.”
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 29, 2025
James Cadwallader, co-founder and chief executive of New York-based Profound, which optimizes brand visibility in AI search, said his team typically works full time in the office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025
Such a structure is generated by the technological implementation of the brain, and it optimizes the activity of the brain in a section of the external reality.
From The Brain, A Decoded Enigma by Dorin Teodor Moisa
With the gel structure optimized and the muscle cells strengthened, the researchers assembled their swimming device.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
Once the coronagraph's focus had been optimized, engineers returned to the Wide Field Instrument for another round of adjustments.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
But open-weight models like those released by Chinese companies can be more easily altered and optimized by users for nefarious purposes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
This is the problem with imagining hospitality as another task that can be optimized.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
The members decided to fund two machines of different sizes, each optimized to produce different particles; the only question left was which lab would build which machine.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Battery makers are largely focused on optimizing existing manufacturing lines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
As a result, brands are optimizing their content to be discovered through different stages of AI browsing.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Co-founder and co-CEO Patrick Jahnke most recently led a data center team at SAP, optimizing its AI usage, among other things.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
The term is less a description of any particular food than a prediction about what happens when the people optimizing a restaurant become increasingly distant from the people cooking in it.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
Twin Cities job market analyst Kristine Jacobs pinpoints what she calls the “money taboo” as a major factor preventing workers from optimizing their earnings.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
