granulate

American  

[gran-yuh-leyt] / ˈgræn jəˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

granulated, granulating

1. to form into granules or grains.

2. to raise in granules; make rough on the surface.

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verb (used without object)

granulated, granulating

1. to become granular or grainy.

2. Pathology. to form granulation tissue.

granulate British  

/ ˈɡrænjʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to make into grains

2. to make or become roughened in surface texture

3. (intr) (of a wound, ulcer, etc) to form granulation tissue

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Other Word Forms

• granulater
  noun
• granulator
  noun
• granulative
  adjective
• multigranulated
  adjective
• nongranulated
  adjective
• ungranulated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of granulate

First recorded in 1660–70; granule + -ate ¹

Explanation

Granulate means to form or reduce into grains. You've probably seen the word on a box of granulated sugar and not thought twice about the fact that, besides its granular form, sugar exists as a liquid and also inside sugar cane. Sugar, of course, is not a grain. A grain is rice, wheat, quinoa, corn––seeds that form the basis of most people's diets. Sugar forms grains when it's refined, appearing in its crystallized form to have a grain-like, or granulated, appearance.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

granulate granulated granulating

Meanwhile, Enviroo recently secured £58m to build a new recycling facility in the north-west of England, specialising in converting PET drink bottles into a recycled granulate that can be used in food packaging.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025

And if honey does granulate it is still perfectly fine to eat.

From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2023

For well owners receiving Army assistance, the long-term plans for the taxpayer-financed cleanup range from installing granulate activated filtration systems to drilling deeper wells that could tap into PFAS-free water.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 23, 2022

For the A3, 45 bottles are used, ground up to create a granulate that is turned into a polyester yarn, accounting for 89 percent of the seat material.

From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2021

The beating seems to do this, causing the dye to granulate in larger particles.

From Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier Twelve Years Sporting Reminiscences of an Indigo Planter by Inglis, James

The company, Irvine-based Ventura Foods, recalled 3,556 cases of the dressing that could be contaminated by “black plastic planting material” in the granulated onion used, according to an alert issued by the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2025

Rock hard, they are granulated then infused with a secret marinade of ingredients from the list above, before being roasted to create new flavours, aromas and compounds.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2024

Surprisingly, sugar -- the white, granulated kind found in nearly every household -- served as an inexpensive, convenient source of carbon atoms.

From Science Daily ● May 2, 2024

Some brands rounded things out with sugar — granulated, brown, even hardwood-smoked — and many were very high in salt, with a few containing more than 20 percent of the recommended daily value of sodium.

From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2024

Vials are filled with ash from the Mount St. Helen’s eruption, and they look like granulated potions, dark glittering magic.

From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day

It is difficult, if not impossible, to so conduct them as to avoid opening up afresh recent granulating wounds.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

In the manufacture of smokeless powders from nitro-cellulose, nitro-lignine, &c., the various substances are mixed with the gun-cotton or collodion-cotton before granulating.

From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by Sanford, P. Gerald (Percy Gerald)

Some one may have a particular predilection for granulating wounds and mucous membranes, and thereby produce a diphtheritic inflammation.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

Walter was up next morning at daybreak, searching along the shore for a flat stone to serve for the bottom of the pan he wished to make for granulating the sago.

From The South Sea Whaler by Groome, William H. C.

In the last kettle—the teach as it is termed—the sugar is concentrated to the granulating point, and then conveyed into coolers, which hold from two to three hogsheads.

From The South-West By a Yankee. In Two Volumes. Volume 1 by Ingraham, Joseph Holt