consolidate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to bring together (separate parts) into a single or unified whole; unite; combine.
They consolidated their three companies.
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to discard the unused or unwanted items of and organize the remaining.
She consolidated her home library.
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to make solid or firm; solidify; strengthen.
to consolidate gains.
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Military. to strengthen by rearranging the position of ground combat troops after a successful attack.
verb (used without object)
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to unite or combine.
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to become solid or firm.
adjective
verb
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to form or cause to form into a solid mass or whole; unite or be united
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to make or become stronger or more stable
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military to strengthen or improve one's control over (a situation, force, newly captured area, etc)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of consolidate
First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin consolidātus “made solid,” past participle of consolidāre “to make solid,” equivalent to con- + solid + -ate 1
Explanation
Consolidate means to bring together. If you consolidate student loans, you put them all together into one big loan. If you consolidate your childhood toys, you grab them all up and put them in one place. Preferably a toy box. Consolidate comes from the Latin roots com- ("together") and solidare ("to make solid"). So, consolidate is to bring things together to make something solid, stronger, or easier to handle. A general might consolidate his troops, a librarian might consolidate his grammar books, and someone with credit-card debt might consolidate the debt from different cards onto one.
Vocabulary lists containing consolidate
Hamilton
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The Hunger Games
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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.
Given India’s size, he expects the market to consolidate into a handful of regional leaders.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026
Sumitomo is looking to consolidate the fragmented U.S. housing market.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
Since taking power in 2012, Xi has used anticorruption purges to consolidate control and advance plans to modernize a military that hasn’t fought a full-scale war since 1979, when China battled Vietnam.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
It’s a large, highly fragmented industry with 20,000 distributors between here and Western Europe, which gives you room to consolidate and scale.
From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026
She asks me to help her consolidate the Kathie Lee knit dresses so the Kathie Lee silky ones can take their place at the “image,” the high-traffic corner area.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
