equalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make equal.
to equalize tax burdens.
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to make uniform.
to equalize a rate of production.
verb
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(tr) to make equal or uniform; regularize
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(intr) (in sports) to reach the same score as one's opponent or opponents
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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equalizationnoun
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nonequalizationnoun
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unequalizeverb (used with object)
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nonequalizedadjective
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nonequalizingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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equalizesimple
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equalizessimple
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have equalizedperfect
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has equalizedperfect
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am equalizingprogressive
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are equalizingprogressive
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is equalizingprogressive
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have been equalizingperfect progressive
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has been equalizingperfect progressive
Past
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equalizedsimple
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had equalizedperfect
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was equalizingprogressive
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were equalizingprogressive
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had been equalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of equalize
Explanation
To equalize is to make sure something is shared evenly or uniformly. You might try to equalize how much cake each party guest gets by slicing it into identical pieces. When you equalize, you're attempting to make things equal, a word with a Latin root that means "even, fair, or equitable." This can be done on a small scale, like when parents feel they have to buy an additional gift for one of their children in order to equalize everyone's Christmas presents. It's also done on a larger scale, with whole industries pushed to equalize pay for workers or cities to equalize educational opportunities for kids.
Vocabulary lists containing equalize
Scrabble: High Scoring Words
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A Soccer and a Football Special
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20 Common Words That Will Boost Your Scrabble Score
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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.
To equalize inheritance later, you can simply adjust the distribution in your will or trust, reducing your son and daughter’s shares by the amount you have gifted each.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 7, 2025
Markkanen's free throw with 19 seconds remaining in regulation set up the first overtime at 127-127 and Chicago's Coby White sank a layup with 0.2 of seconds remaining to equalize at 136-136.
From Barron's • Nov. 17, 2025
At six months of age, the number of nanotubes in normal mice and those with Alzheimer's disease began to equalize.
From Science Daily • Oct. 16, 2025
Mike Huckabee, for goodness sake, was the governor who signed off on hundreds of millions of dollars of new annual funding to help equalize funding in Arkansas.
From Salon • Mar. 19, 2025
Sensing the drop in pressure, it constantly flooded itself with air from my nitrogen tank to equalize.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
