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
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has been optimizingperfect progressive
Past
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optimizedsimple
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had optimizedperfect
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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 the NFL ramps up the number of games played abroad—in countries such as France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, and Australia—teams are investing vast resources to optimize their travel plans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
"And we wanted to optimize all these parameters to support live muscle cells."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 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
He taught her how to tell time and direction from the stars, and she showed him how to open the expert software in the boards to optimize them for night travel.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
Evolution optimizes “for survival rather than elegance,” he writes, and our biology shows it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
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
Apple’s new CEO is a person who builds things, not one who optimizes supply chains.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 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
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
The findings challenge the assumption that birds traveling enormous distances must have wings optimized primarily for efficient long-distance flight.
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
Using their optimized conditions, they successfully synthesized lactones from 18 different ketone compounds.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 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
“That means tracking performance, rebalancing when needed, and optimizing returns, which shouldn’t be measured in dollars alone,” said Jonathan Hillman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Now, on to the task of optimizing as much as you can.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
Turba Labs aims to double the world’s available compute without building new data centers by optimizing existing artificial intelligence infrastructure.
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
The White House, one learns, operates with the express purpose of optimizing the well-being, efficiency, and overall power of one person—and that’s the president.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
