centralize
Americanverb (used with object)
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centralizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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centralized,
past participle, past
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centralizing
present participle
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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)
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centralizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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centralized,
past participle, past
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centralizing
present participle
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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centralizesimple
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centralizessimple
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have centralizedperfect
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has centralizedperfect
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am centralizingprogressive
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are centralizingprogressive
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is centralizingprogressive
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have been centralizingperfect progressive
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has been centralizingperfect progressive
Past
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centralizedsimple
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had centralizedperfect
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was centralizingprogressive
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were centralizingprogressive
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had been centralizingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
MS highlights China’s central buying agency and now Indonesia’s effort to centralize commodity exports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
Last year, Allen came under fire after announcing sweeping cuts at about two dozen local affiliates that included laying off meteorologists, part of a reorganization to centralize forecasts at the Weather Channel in Atlanta.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
The move comes after Disney’s board and newly installed Chief Executive Josh D’Amaro unveiled a more streamlined management structure that sought to centralize its sprawling marketing operations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
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
The plan was accepted at most branches, but some of the more far-flung outposts felt that the plan was an effort by Jo-hannesburg to centralize control over the regions.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The biggest problem is that it centralizes Europeanness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
Web2 centralizes a bunch of cool stuff that was happening with Web1, but you are saying Web3 decentralizes it again.
From The Verge ● Apr. 12, 2022
And voters with a college education tend to be located in urban areas, which centralizes and thus diminishes their influence.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 11, 2021
An app that centralizes France’s vaccine and other medical appointments, Doctolib, announced Tuesday that 1.3 million people signed up for injections after Macron gave a televised address Monday night urging more vaccination.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 13, 2021
The new Paperwork Reduction Act centralizes, in OMB, oversight of all agencies' information requirements and strengthens OMB's authority to eliminate needless forms.
From State of the Union Address by Jimmy Carter
Cuba’s highly centralized legal system will work to the advantage of new leadership.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Broken TV economics have prompted the NBA to begin making plans to build a centralized streaming platform for fans to watch basketball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Despite providing millions of Americans with health insurance coverage for the first time, these programs had few centralized mechanisms for the kind of federal oversight that could prevent and catch fraud and abuse.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Attempting to aggregate knowledge for the use of a centralized intelligence faces the same challenge.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Even the earliest Mesopotamian states exercised centralized control of their economies.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
"Rather than centralizing superintelligence, we should distribute it widely and give every person the ability to direct it," Zuckerberg wrote, arguing that open models are a key part of a global AI ecosystem.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
“It’s just centralizing all of the different parts of the road map that I’ve been trying to build for myself.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
Iranian state media acknowledged his death late Saturday; Khamenei had led the Islamic Republic since 1989, centralizing religious and political power and steering Iran into prolonged confrontation with both Israel and the United States.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
“As AI rapidly reshapes retail, we are centralizing our platforms to accelerate shared capabilities, freeing up our operating segments to be more focused on and closer to our customers and members,” said Furner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
But in all branches of industry—and death is an industry, my young friend, make no mistake about that—one makes one’s money from operating in bulk, from buying in quantity, from centralizing one’s operations.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
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.
