centralize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to draw to or gather about a center.
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to bring under one control, especially in government.
to centralize budgeting in one agency.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to draw or move (something) to or towards a centre
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to bring or come under central control, esp governmental control
Other Word Forms
- centralization noun
- centralizer noun
- overcentralize verb
- recentralize verb
Etymology
Origin of centralize
Explanation
To centralize is to join together or concentrate in one main place. Instead of keeping coins and bills stashed all around your room, it might be wise to centralize your savings in your piggy bank. The word centralize is often used by companies, organizations, or governments when they reorganize or streamline their operations by focusing control in one main location or authority. A school district might centralize student records by putting them all in one location instead of keeping them at separate schools. A corporation may centralize its operations by putting all its managers in one main office, or headquarters, shutting down regional locations in order to cut costs.
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.
Now that we have one clear policy, we can update all of our Help pages and try to centralize this a bit more.
From Slate • Apr. 1, 2026
It’s unclear whether Paramount would sell the historic Melrose Avenue lot or simply centralize the sprawling operations onto the Warner Bros. and Paramount lots in Burbank and Hollywood.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026
Andy Sriubas, the Social Security Administration’s chief of field operations, told Social Security employees in a Nov. 25 memo that changes would be made to centralize the workload.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 20, 2026
Whole Foods also worked to centralize its operations and increase fees for suppliers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 2, 2025
Sure enough, conflict between them broke open at the end of January, when Lawrence appeared in Chicago with a proposal to centralize all the plutonium and isotope work, including the atomic pile, at Berkeley.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
