alphabetize
Americanverb (used with object)
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alphabetizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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alphabetized,
past participle, past
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alphabetizing
present participle
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to put or arrange in alphabetical order.
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to express by or furnish with an alphabet.
verb
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to arrange in conventional alphabetical order
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to express by an alphabet
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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alphabetizationnoun
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alphabetizernoun
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misalphabetizeverb (used with object)
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unalphabetizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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alphabetizesimple
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alphabetizessimple
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have alphabetizedperfect
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has alphabetizedperfect
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am alphabetizingprogressive
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are alphabetizingprogressive
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is alphabetizingprogressive
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have been alphabetizingperfect progressive
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has been alphabetizingperfect progressive
Past
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alphabetizedsimple
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had alphabetizedperfect
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was alphabetizingprogressive
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were alphabetizingprogressive
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had been alphabetizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of alphabetize
Explanation
To alphabetize is to arrange something in order of the letters of the alphabet. You might alphabetize your spices on the rack in you kitchen, with allspice first and za'atar last. Part of a librarian's job is to alphabetize books, both on the shelf and in a computer database. If you put together a directory of club members, you might alphabetize their names, and if you've ever looked up a number in a phone book, you're probably glad the printer alphabetized the listings. Alphabetize comes from alphabet, which is rooted in the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha and beta.
Vocabulary lists containing alphabetize
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:
And instead of organizing the case from top to bottom, I alphabetize each individual shelf so that when it’s time to add a book, I don’t have to shift the entire system.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2022
“But if I’m like, I need to go through all those shelves back there and alphabetize my books and dust them and maybe paint the bookshelves,” she said, you might be “procrasticlearing.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 9, 2021
It’s going to be a long list, so you can click on the “Process Name” heading to alphabetize the list for an easier find.
From The Verge ● Jul. 6, 2021
“We just want to alphabetize the word honki to make it catchy,” the broadcaster said in a statement Tuesday to The Japan Times.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 29, 2015
To arrange alphabetically; as, to alphabetize a list of words.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Noah Webster
My wife then divides hers into region and alphabetizes them by last name of author, but I am too lazy.
From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2020
There’s one that can help me when I dine out and another that alphabetizes my favorite recipes, like an ingredients-only weight loss cookbook.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2016
Sister Rose is so organized that she alphabetizes her kitchen so that the allspice would be stored next to the ant poison.
From Time Magazine Archive
This, in his view, had multiple advantages, which he alphabetizes as Affiliation, Bonding, Categorization, Discernment, Employment, Freedom and God.
From Time Magazine Archive
A small bookcase near the front door holds Ms. Milligan’s alphabetized DVD collection of 1960s and ’70s television series, most snagged from the $5 bin at Target.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
Her spices were alphabetized, her cutlery all had to face the same direction in the drawer and her chocolate chip cookies were somehow all identical.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2022
“I suffer from CDO. That’s OCD, but the letters are alphabetized like they need to be.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2022
Shelves lining the walls reached from floor to ceiling, each packed full of titles, perfectly alphabetized and separated by genre.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
I see now that she provoked me in a good way, introducing me to the idea that not everyone needs to have their file folders labeled and alphabetized, or even to have files at all.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Often, the instinct is to just begin: grab a garbage bag, empty the freezer, start wiping baseboards, briefly consider alphabetizing your spices.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2026
It does give one a pleasing orderly sort of feeling, not unlike alphabetizing a library, to take life’s random events and emotions and slot them into helpfully labeled shelves.
From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2019
Marshall said he is in the process of alphabetizing the others, as well as attaching information on the wrench and the company it came from.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 19, 2017
Music Library: Church of the Epiphany’s music director would appreciate a volunteer to help with organizing the music library, including alphabetizing, rearranging shelves, labeling boxes, and updating the music library spreadsheet.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2017
I can’t put everything back together or I’ll find myself alphabetizing all the books and taping the map back together.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
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.
