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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localizableadjective
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nonlocalizedadjective
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localizationnoun
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unlocalizableadjective
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unlocalizeverb (used with object)
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localizernoun
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nonlocalizableadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has localizedperfect 3rd person singular
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have localizedperfect
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localizessingular 3rd person
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localizingparticiple
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have been localizingperfect progressive
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is localizingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am localizingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been localizingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are localizingprogressive
Past
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had localizedperfect
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were localizingprogressive plural
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localizedsimple
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localizedparticiple
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was localizingprogressive singular
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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.
He is pressing ahead with a roughly $30 million expansion of his factory in Tennessee, convinced that he needs to localize more production in the U.S. to sidestep tariffs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026
Both T1 Energy and Canadian Solar are working to localize supply chains to meet tax bill requirements and secure government incentives.
From Barron's • Dec. 9, 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
Beyond words dreadful then, it was to realize this thing in her brain—to feel it spread hungrily through her veins and localize in her lips, her breast, and the hollow of her arms.
From She Buildeth Her House by Comfort, William Wistar
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.
