synchronize

[ sing-kruh-nahyz ]
See synonyms for: synchronizesynchronizedsynchronization on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),syn·chro·nized, syn·chro·niz·ing.
  1. to cause to indicate the same time, as one timepiece with another: Synchronize your watches.

  2. to cause to go on, move, operate, work, etc., at the same rate and exactly together: They synchronized their steps and walked on together.

  1. Movies, Television.

    • to cause (sound and action) to match precisely: to synchronize the sound of footsteps with the actor's movements.

    • to match the sound and action in (a scene).

  2. to harmonize or bring into alignment: To be at peace with yourself you must synchronize your lifestyle with your values.

  3. to cause (accounts or narratives) to agree in the timing and sequence of events, or to arrange (events) in a way that shows their occurrence in the same time or period: The early church fathers did not attempt to synchronize the four gospels.This chart synchronizes inventions that occurred simultaneously in different parts of the world.

  4. Computers. sync (def. 4).

  5. to adjust the periodicities of (two or more electrical or mechanical devices) so that the periods are equal or integral multiples or fractions of each other.

verb (used without object),syn·chro·nized, syn·chro·niz·ing.
  1. to occur at the same time or coincide or agree in time.

  2. to go on, move, operate, work, etc., at the same rate and exactly together; recur together.

  1. Computers. sync (def. 7).

Origin of synchronize

1
First recorded in 1615–25; from Greek synchronízein “to be contemporary with”; from sýnchron(os) synchronous + -izein -ize
  • Also especially British, syn·chro·nise .

Other words from synchronize

  • syn·chro·ni·za·tion [sing-kruh-nahy-zey-shuhn], /ˌsɪŋ krə naɪˈzeɪ ʃən/, noun
  • syn·chro·niz·er, noun
  • de·syn·chro·ni·za·tion, noun
  • de·syn·chro·nize, verb (used with object), de·syn·chro·nized, de·syn·chro·niz·ing.
  • un·syn·chro·nized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use synchronize in a sentence

  • They are, so to speak, pimples of the soul which synchronise with similar excrescences of the skin.

  • At any rate they synchronise, despite or perhaps because of the deficiency of formal literature during the "Dark" Ages.

    A Letter Book | George Saintsbury
  • It was now an obvious plan to synchronise our movements with his.

    Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 | Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury
  • These changes synchronise to a certain extent; for, as the sun rises, light appears and the temperature begins to rise.

    Life Movements in Plants | Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose
  • Would it not be a very wise and proper proceeding that she should make her leave to synchronise with his?

British Dictionary definitions for synchronize

synchronize

synchronise

/ (ˈsɪŋkrəˌnaɪz) /


verb
  1. (when intr, usually foll by with) to occur or recur or cause to occur or recur at the same time or in unison

  2. to indicate or cause to indicate the same time: synchronize your watches

  1. to download files, esp music or video files, from a PC to a portable device such as an iPod, or to upload files from the device to a PC

  2. (tr) films to establish (the picture and soundtrack records) in their correct relative position

  3. (tr) to designate (events) as simultaneous

Derived forms of synchronize

  • synchronization or synchronisation, noun
  • synchronizer or synchroniser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012