encapsulate
Americanverb (used with object)
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encapsulates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
encapsulated,
past participle, past
-
encapsulating
present participle
-
to place in or as if in a capsule.
-
to summarize or condense.
verb (used without object)
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encapsulates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
encapsulated,
past participle, past
-
encapsulating
present participle
verb
-
to enclose or be enclosed in or as if in a capsule
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(tr) to sum up in a short or concise form; condense; abridge
Usage
What does encapsulate mean? To encapsulate figuratively means to summarize or condense, as in Rhia encapsulated the three-hour lecture into a 20-minute video. When you encapsulate something, you can still see the clear vision of what is being summarized but in a shorter time or with less effort. Movie trailers should encapsulate the movie (without giving away the ending, thank you very much). And when you use multiple skills to create something, such as a product, you could that product encapsulates your talents. To encapsulate literally means to place in a capsule or as if in a capsule, such as a dose of medicine placed inside a gelatinous case. Example: This interview really encapsulates the feelings that most of our patients have toward the new treatment.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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encapsulatesimple
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encapsulatessimple
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have encapsulatedperfect
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has encapsulatedperfect
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am encapsulatingprogressive
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are encapsulatingprogressive
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is encapsulatingprogressive
-
have been encapsulatingperfect progressive
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has been encapsulatingperfect progressive
Past
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encapsulatedsimple
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had encapsulatedperfect
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was encapsulatingprogressive
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were encapsulatingprogressive
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had been encapsulatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of encapsulate
Explanation
To encapsulate something is to sum it up in shorter form — to summarize something. When you see the word encapsulate, think about trying to put your comic book collection inside one tiny capsule — all of them wouldn't fit, so you'd have to pick out just your favorites or the most valuable ones. Encapsulating means condensing something down into its most important parts, so you just get the gist of it. Cliff's Notes encapsulate longer books. If you tell a friend about your summer vacation, you better encapsulate it or you'll be there for hours.
Vocabulary lists containing encapsulate
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Mandela's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Address
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Robin Williams (1951-2014) Tribute List
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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:
“My hope is to encapsulate the history of our region through one guy’s personal experience.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
Below are five bits that encapsulate his run as one of late-night’s most self-deprecating hosts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Either in the colours of Manchester United or Northern Ireland, the highlights of his career encapsulate why many who saw him still argue he was the best player ever.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
Micron and Sandisk, plus Western Digital and Seagate, perfectly encapsulate momentum.
From Barron's ● Apr. 2, 2026
We owe to him indispensable phrases which encapsulate powerful arguments, such as ‘unintended consequence’ and ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’; one of his phrases, ‘role model’, has moved out of the university into daily speech.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
While Parton’s most obvious Muppet counterpart is Miss Piggy, her duet with Kermit the Frog, performed on a 1987 episode of her variety show, encapsulates everything we adored about her — and him.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
Robinson explains what Ron’s feeling in that moment in a way that perfectly encapsulates what it’s like watching “The Chair Company”: “He’s happy, scared and exhilarated.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
It encapsulates one of the best stories of this World Cup - Cape Verde, on their World Cup debut, defying the odds to reach the knockout rounds.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Eschewing Western musical notation, Mr. Smith developed a system that sometimes encapsulates compositions within paintings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Its outer walls are made entirely of rounded glass, but a circular tube of dark metal encapsulates the glass walls.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Before launch, teams will transport the encapsulated Roman observatory to SpaceX's hangar at Launch Pad 39A.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
That sentence perfectly encapsulated Freedom to Marry’s “road map to victory” strategy, which had aimed at changing hearts and minds in order to deliver the change in law and politics needed.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
The match encapsulated both the present and the future of the Mexican team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Above ground, the spent nuclear fuel will be encapsulated in highly corrosion-resistent copper canisters.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
I only knew the memory lived in me, a perfectly encapsulated morsel of a good past, a brushstroke of color on the gray, barren canvas that our lives had become.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
The video went viral, encapsulating the prevalent mood of indignation about official nonaction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Tesla, a notoriously volatile stock, has moved an average of about 6% up or down the week encapsulating the prior four quarterly reports, in line with history.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
To overcome this, the Atukorale Lab has engineered a lipid nanoparticle-based "super adjuvant" capable of stably encapsulating and co-delivering two distinct immune adjuvants that activate immunity in a coordinated, synergistic way.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2025
Erica Moore, a Doctor Who fan who spent many years in Cardiff but now lives in Boston, USA, said there were other characters and relationships which stood out as encapsulating the show's widespread appeal.
From BBC ● May 31, 2025
One argument, "Don't programmers deserve a reward for their creativity," earned a response encapsulating Stallman's anger over the recent Gosling Emacs episode: "If anything deserves a reward, it is social contribution," Stallman wrote.
From Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software by Sam Williams
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.
