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.
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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
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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:
There is only space to optimize, and streamline, and organize.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
“Not every workload requires a complex and expensive frontier model, and Microsoft’s approach helps optimize performance while reducing token consumption.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Younger adults or athletes may also want to test their balance to optimize sports performance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
We’re all sitting at home sipping adaptogenic mushroom tonics, journaling our feelings and politely declining invitations to any event after 7 p.m. because we’d rather optimize our sleep scores than take a tequila shot.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 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
“We’re really looking for founders who are building where technology personalizes the experience and optimizes the experience but doesn’t replace the experience,” Ferreira said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 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
He’s the 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
Mice treated with the optimized scaffold performed better on a grid-walking test designed to measure mistakes in forelimb placement.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
“We’ve made a car that looks like the future, designed and optimized around the passenger” said Ian Kettle, site manager for the Cybercab, on Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
DeepSeek, in turn, used a technique optimized by Moonshot to boost training efficiency and stability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
He said SpaceX’s Starmind AI satellite “will be essentially an optimized Vera Rubin NVL72 computer,” and that the company expects to launch it next year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 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
I began gently optimizing my library use the way someone might optimize a coffee-shop punch card.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
Some are optimizing, trying to produce the best physical performance at the gym or at work.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Company’s claims: Advanced Biotechnologies claims the BioCharger creates frequencies that mimic and regulate the body’s own natural electromagnetic frequencies, optimizing the body’s ability to heal, regenerate and regulate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
He wants “to build a new healthcare system from the ground up, solely optimizing for prevention of disease and prolonging healthy life using every tool, technology, piece of scientific and medical information available to us.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 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
Definitions 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.
