localize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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to make or become local in attitude, behaviour, etc
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(tr) to restrict or confine (something) to a particular area or part
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(tr) to assign or ascribe to a particular region
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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localizationnoun
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localizernoun
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unlocalizeverb (used with object)
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localizableadjective
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nonlocalizableadjective
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nonlocalizedadjective
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unlocalizableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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localizesimple
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localizessimple
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have localizedperfect
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has localizedperfect
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am localizingprogressive
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are localizingprogressive
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is localizingprogressive
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have been localizingperfect progressive
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has been localizingperfect progressive
Past
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localizedsimple
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had localizedperfect
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was localizingprogressive
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were localizingprogressive
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had been localizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of localize
Explanation
To localize is to focus on a small, specific area. The newspaper in your city might localize half of their news coverage, concentrating on just your state. A doctor or dentist will localize pain treatment in certain cases, like when you get a novocaine shot in your gums before getting a cavity filled. Rather than a general painkiller affecting your whole body, this focuses only on the part of your mouth that's affected. You can also localize by adapting something to a specific location. A rural school might localize its schedule by opening later in the fall to allow students to help on family farms, for example.
Vocabulary lists containing localize
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:
The deal was carefully structured to localize production in multiple phases, from kit assembly to near-complete domestic manufacturing.
From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026
Netflix is already using generative AI to improve the quality of its title recommendations, localize show and film promotional materials globally and assist filmmakers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
They acknowledge and make efforts to localize experiences for American fans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2024
The children also experienced better speech perception and gained the ability to localize and determine the position of sound.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024
Narrow thoroughfares and courts are, however, a source of danger which may baffle all efforts to localize a fire.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4 "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre" by Various
Dowdy didn’t specify what steps Netflix plans to take as part of its new initiative to ensure that shows and movies’ original voices are maintained as the streamer localizes them.
From The Verge ● May 19, 2022
Work on semiconductors at Bell Labs led Anderson to propose in 1957 that disorder — such as that caused by defects and impurities in a material — localizes electron waves, producing an insulator.
From Nature ● Apr. 30, 2020
Because Netflix localizes its content throughout the world, she had to edit and turn in the four episodes by early March in order to make its May 31 premiere date.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2019
Tacoma author Marcia Crews, who also wrote “Three Bears of the Pacific Northwest,” localizes another fairytale in her new book, set once-upon-a-time on the Salish Sea.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2018
In fact, although religion confuses value and existence, it localizes the great value-forms outside of existence.
From Creative Intelligence Essays in the Pragmatic Attitude by Bode, Boyd H.
Even a country without a conventional air force can now achieve localized air superiority thanks to drones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Previous waves of xenophobia were localized and universally condemned by politicians, said Loren Landau, a senior researcher with the African Centre for Migration & Society at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Immigration enforcement actions cause localized economic declines, including a 2.8% drop in employees and $106.1 million in lost wages in one city.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
"Targeting these specific neural circuits could become an effective and more localized strategy to treat affective disorders," the researcher concludes.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2026
The evidence for a localized origin of modern humans, followed by their spread and then their replacement of other types of humans elsewhere, seems strongest for Europe.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The turning point came in the 1980s, when operators began aggressively localizing the concept.
From Barron's ● Mar. 21, 2026
“Operating profit was impacted by higher incentives and tariff effects that we’re managing through disciplined execution and optimized production strategies, including localizing in the U.S.,”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
But eventually, Yang believes, localizing production will be necessary to better expand in promising markets including Japan, Korea and Singapore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2025
As this fluorescence is used for localizing them, accurately determining their positions becomes impossible.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 14, 2024
Of what value to the body is the "localizing of the sensation"?
From Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools by Walters, Francis M.
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.
