concentrate

American  

[kon-suhn-treyt] / ˈkɒn sənˌtreɪt /

verb (used with object)

• concentrates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• concentrated,
  past participle,  past
• concentrating
  present participle

1. 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.

   Antonyms:

   disperse, dissipate

2. to put or bring into a single place, group, etc..

   The nation's wealth had been concentrated in a few families.

3. 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.

4. Mining. to separate (metal or ore) from rock, sand, etc., so as to improve the quality of the valuable portion.

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verb (used without object)

• concentrates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• concentrated,
  past participle,  past
• concentrating
  present participle

1. 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

2. to come to or toward a common center; converge; collect.

   The population concentrated in one part of the city.

3. to become more intense, stronger, or purer.

noun

• concentrates
  plural

1. a concentrated form of something; a product of concentration.

   a juice concentrate.

concentrate British  

/ ˈkɒnsənˌtreɪt /

verb

1. to come or cause to come to a single purpose or aim

   to concentrate one's hopes on winning

2. to make or become denser or purer by the removal of certain elements, esp the solvent of a solution

3. (tr) to remove rock or sand from (an ore) to make it purer

4. to bring one's faculties to bear (on); think intensely (about)

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noun

1. a concentrated material or solution

   tomato concentrate

Synonym Usage

See contract.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• concentrativeness
  noun
• concentrator
  noun
• nonconcentrativeness
  noun
• preconcentrate
  noun
• overconcentrate
  verb
• reconcentrate
  verb
• concentrative
  adjective
• nonconcentrative
  adjective
• unconcentrative
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• concentrates
  plural

Participles

• concentrating
  present
• concentrated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• concentrate
  simple
• concentrates
  simple
• have concentrated
  perfect
• has concentrated
  perfect
• am concentrating
  progressive
• are concentrating
  progressive
• is concentrating
  progressive
• have been concentrating
  perfect progressive
• has been concentrating
  perfect progressive

Past

• concentrated
  simple
• had concentrated
  perfect
• was concentrating
  progressive
• were concentrating
  progressive
• had been concentrating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will concentrate
  simple
• will have concentrated
  perfect
• will be concentrating
  progressive
• will have been concentrating
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

concentrate concentrates concentrated concentrating

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

Fewer meetings could concentrate rather than diffuse market attention as each meeting becomes a bigger event.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 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

"We are making important progress which will safeguard the future of our game, concentrate resources and give our teams the best chance of achieving success at all levels."

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

I tried reading five pages every evening, but often I was too tired to concentrate and did not understand what I read.

From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez

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

Lamine Yamal prefers to let the media talk the talk while he concentrates on walking the walk, even with the constant Ballon d'Or chatter that has followed him since he was 16.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

To overcome that limitation, the research team designed the detector around a metasurface, a patterned structure that concentrates electromagnetic energy into extremely small regions.

From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026

Coca-Cola reported higher first-quarter profit, boosted by growth in sales of concentrates, which it sells to bottling partners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

She concentrates on the dark spotlight above her.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

Use it anywhere a little concentrated summer would be welcome: shaken into cocktails or mocktails, stirred into iced matcha or sparkling water, drizzled over gelato or spooned onto yogurt.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Ackman made his name as an activist investor, but for the past several years has focused on taking friendly, concentrated stakes that he holds for long periods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

If you want actively managed exposure, you might lean toward funds that hold a relatively small number of stocks for concentrated exposure to names favored by fund managers.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

The records were concentrated in southern Britain, western France, and northern and eastern Spain.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

I concentrated on my gait, marking the changes in direction, following nothing but the way my feet seemed to divine.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

"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

She says those physical sensations - including a heavy feeling in her chest, a racing heart and difficulty concentrating - can reinforce the symptoms of anxiety, creating a cycle that is difficult to break.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

“We’re concentrating right now on Iran,” Netanyahu said on the March 4 call, according to the footage, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Isobel sighs but she obediently closes her eyes, concentrating.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Related Words

• accumulate
• cluster
• combine
• consolidate
• eliminate
• focus
• integrate
• intensify
• reduce
• strengthen