concentrate
Americanverb (used with object)
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concentrates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
concentrated,
past participle, past
-
concentrating
present participle
-
to bring or draw to a common center or point of union; converge; direct toward one point; focus.
to concentrate one's attention on a problem; to concentrate the rays of the sun with a lens.
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to put or bring into a single place, group, etc..
The nation's wealth had been concentrated in a few families.
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to intensify; make denser, stronger, or purer, especially by the removal or reduction of liquid.
to concentrate fruit juice; to concentrate a sauce by boiling it down.
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Mining. to separate (metal or ore) from rock, sand, etc., so as to improve the quality of the valuable portion.
verb (used without object)
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concentrates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
concentrated,
past participle, past
-
concentrating
present participle
-
to bring all efforts, faculties, activities, etc., to bear on one thing or activity (often followed by on orupon ).
to concentrate on solving a problem.
- Antonyms:
- diverge
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to come to or toward a common center; converge; collect.
The population concentrated in one part of the city.
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to become more intense, stronger, or purer.
noun
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concentrates
plural
verb
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to come or cause to come to a single purpose or aim
to concentrate one's hopes on winning
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to make or become denser or purer by the removal of certain elements, esp the solvent of a solution
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(tr) to remove rock or sand from (an ore) to make it purer
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to bring one's faculties to bear (on); think intensely (about)
noun
Synonym Usage
See contract.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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concentrativenessnoun
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concentratornoun
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nonconcentrativenessnoun
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preconcentratenoun
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overconcentrateverb
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reconcentrateverb
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concentrativeadjective
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nonconcentrativeadjective
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unconcentrativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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concentratesimple
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concentratessimple
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have concentratedperfect
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has concentratedperfect
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am concentratingprogressive
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are concentratingprogressive
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is concentratingprogressive
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have been concentratingperfect progressive
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has been concentratingperfect progressive
Past
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concentratedsimple
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had concentratedperfect
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was concentratingprogressive
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were concentratingprogressive
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had been concentratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of concentrate
First recorded in 1630–40; from French concentr(er) or Italian concentr(are) ( see con-, center) + -ate 1
Explanation
Concentrate means to make something stronger, denser, or more focused. If you concentrate your energy, for example, you become more powerful! Concentrate your efforts at digging, and you'll plant that shrub a lot faster. You may have seen the words "frozen concentrate" used to describe orange juice. That can of frozen orange goo is the juice in its purest, most condensed form — the concentrate — and it's much stronger and sweeter than the juice you'd drink. Another meaning of the verb concentrate refers to your mental focus. You might need to concentrate on what you're reading in order to understand it. When you concentrate, you strengthen your focus to shut out distractions.
Vocabulary lists containing concentrate
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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:
A teenager who has spent the summer making history as Jersey's first Commonwealth Games medalist in 36 years delayed opening his A-level results to concentrate on winning another gold medal.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The student, who is also a freelance translator, has also found it hard to concentrate on lectures knowing he could be missing out on work opportunities.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Lower flows can concentrate the very pollution the new data is designed to track, leaving fish and other aquatic life exposed to more dangerous levels.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
It challenges the idea that prosperity requires us to concentrate decision-making powers in the hands of the few.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
I’d stuffed it there two hours ago so I could concentrate on my homework rather than wonder why it was taking him so long to text me, when he’s had my number for hours.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
"In these settings, the mantle behaves like a multi-stage melting system that progressively concentrates gold."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
The focus was on raw concentrates of the rechargeable battery ingredient lithium, with most of its hundreds of thousands of tons of annual production shipped out to China, the world's largest maker of electric vehicles.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Pointed at the elite, AI concentrates power; pointed at the citizen, AI gives it back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
The shift further concentrates operational oversight among directors aligned with recent governance changes, including Chair Mary Filippelli.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
In humanities class, Ms. Steck concentrates on our previous discussion about Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
There are pockets where wealth is concentrated within the county, Helbig noted.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
Policymakers noted that economic activity had continued to expand at a "solid pace," but noted that business investment was concentrated in AI industry expenditures.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The researchers concentrated on the visual cortex and proposed four major functions for neural traveling waves.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
They commonly occur when the bladder does not empty completely, leaving concentrated urine that can turn into crystals.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
He concentrated on the texture, the way it crumbled if he pressed it too hard.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
"They were doing everything they could and they were concentrating on the northern side of the fire where residential areas were."
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
"It felt good that someone rather than AI was concentrating on and listening to my story," the 44-year-old said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Rather than concentrating only on determining where syphilis originated, the team says future studies should examine how different treponemal diseases evolved alongside human populations, societies and changing environments.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
Ukraine’s annual Atlas Festival, which drew 95,000 concertgoers last month, is concentrating on the fan experience amid the severe constraints of war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
He was concentrating so hard on watching his feet, he didn’t hear me.
From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling
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.
