concentrate
Americanverb (used with object)
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concentrates,
present (3rd person singular)
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concentrated,
past participle, past
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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:
The report delivers a stark warning, too: "AI could widen gaps between countries, increase inequality within them, concentrate market power, weaken trust in public institutions, and create new risks for safety, rights, and social cohesion."
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 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
More sulphate processing plants were expected to come on line by the time the ban on lithium concentrate exports comes into force in January 2027, he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
He had to concentrate on fixing the problems he could fix.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Exports of copper ores and concentrates also rose strongly to reach the highest on record, with shipments to Japan, China, Finland and South Korea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
"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
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
And to evade nostalgia for the life he has lost, he concentrates on the benefits education will bestow upon him.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
McNerney said the 10 represented “our highest-conviction names,” with that group concentrated in the pharmaceuticals and banking industries.
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
Construction, which employs a lot of immigrant workers, added 22,000 jobs last month, with gains concentrated in the specialty-trade contracting work that continues to benefit from the AI build-out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Highly concentrated brines can keep phosphate dissolved in solution and can promote chemical reactions involving organic compounds and minerals that precipitate from solution.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
Over the next two days, the men concentrated on getting well.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
"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
Will that prevent her children from concentrating on schoolwork or having a full school experience that includes outdoor recreation?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
I felt better for it, went back to my seat, and let the window glass down, concentrating on the air in my face and what would happen when this was over.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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.
