locate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
locates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
located,
past participle, past
-
locating
present participle
-
to identify or discover the place or location of.
to locate the bullet wound.
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to set, fix, or establish in a position, situation, or locality; place; settle.
to locate our European office in Paris.
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to assign or ascribe a particular location to (something), as by knowledge or opinion.
Some scholars locate the Garden of Eden in Babylonia.
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to survey and enter a claim to a tract of land; take possession of land.
verb (used without object)
-
locates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
located,
past participle, past
-
locating
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to discover the position, situation, or whereabouts of; find
-
(tr; often passive) to situate or place
located on the edge of the city
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(intr) to become established or settled
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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locaternoun
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prelocateverb
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interlocateverb (used with object)
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locatableadjective
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self-locatingadjective
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unlocatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
locatesimple
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locatessimple
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have locatedperfect
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has locatedperfect
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am locatingprogressive
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are locatingprogressive
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is locatingprogressive
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have been locatingperfect progressive
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has been locatingperfect progressive
Past
-
locatedsimple
-
had locatedperfect
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was locatingprogressive
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were locatingprogressive
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had been locatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of locate
An Americanism first recorded in 1645–55; from Latin locātus “placed,” past participle of locāre “to put in a given position, place,” verb derivative of locus “a place”; see locus
Explanation
If you wanted to decide where to locate your car wash, you might locate a spot on a map with lots of traffic, a parking lot, and a ready source of water. Locate means to find or place. If your mother can never locate her keys, it means she loses them all of the time and has to look all around the house before going out. If you move to a new place, usually for a job, you relocate. But if you decide to find a job that is located in your town, you call that staying local, which, like locate, derives from the Latin locus meaning "place."
Vocabulary lists containing locate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Vocabulary of the Common Core
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Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 51-60
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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:
But for listeners who’ve been to Scotland, it can be hard to locate the Scottish people anywhere in his Scottish works.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The park was excavated as part of a 500-day national drive launched in March, touted as Vietnam's largest push to locate some of the hundreds of thousands missing since the war.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
To locate and draw attention to a lost hiker on mountainous terrain, Sgiath is trained to bark and bounce around to attract attention.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Traditionally, residents locate homes and buildings by giving directional descriptors, such as being on the “west side of San Antonio Street, 3 houses south of 12th Avenue.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
“I’m really sorry. Just ignore her. She hasn’t been able to locate her mind-your-own-business medication for years.”
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
Kim locates an inner confidence in early home videos of Lisa competing in talent shows, drawing parallels between that precocious seven-year-old and the young woman who is gradually reclaiming her agency.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
When a store puts in an order, a robot locates the correct bin, grabs the tote using extendable metal arms and carries it to a glass elevator that delivers the item to a human.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
When a male locates a female tarantula, he “initiates a courtship ritual involving rhythmic tapping and vibration to signal his presence and avoid predation,” McCamish said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2025
He still lives in Seattle, consults for transportation clients, and joined the board of a company that locates underground utility obstacles, like those which delayed the new Tacoma Link Hilltop Extension streetcar.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
The kerosene has evaporated from the wood by the time he locates the matches.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
The company outgrew its Santa Monica office and is now located near Culver Theater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
On later visits, Hitler stayed at the Hotel Elephant, which, located by the market square, was more convenient for haranguing the public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
"Disadvantaged children attend disadvantaged schools, located in disadvantaged areas," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The ANB Arena which hosts the Six Kings Slam is also located in the north of Riyadh, about 31km away from the King Khalid International Airport.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Instead of being hidden in the heart of the buildings, they were located outside.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Following reports from supermarket staff that the offending continued over the following days, neighbourhood officers "spent an entire day" locating the man and bringing him into custody, the letter said.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Students spent weeks searching library catalogs, locating journal articles, reading books, organizing notes, developing arguments, drafting and revising.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Even so, locating treatment-resistant regions that already exist inside tumors and understanding the cells that support them could eventually help researchers develop more effective combinations of cancer therapies.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026
“Without locating and examining the animal,” she said, “we can’t determine what may have caused the reported aggressive behavior.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
They had difficulty in locating the sister, Catherine.
From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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