mechanize

[ mek-uh-nahyz ]

/ ˈmɛk əˌnaɪz /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mechanize ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), mech·a·nized, mech·a·niz·ing.

to make mechanical.

to operate or perform by or as if by machinery.

to introduce machinery into (an industry, enterprise, etc.), especially in order to replace manual labor.

Military. to equip with tanks and other armored vehicles.

RELATED WORDS

motorize, industrialize, equip, rig

Nearby words

Also especially British, mech·a·nise.

Origin of mechanize

First recorded in 1695–1705; mechan(ic) + -ize

Related formsmech·a·ni·za·tion, nounmech·a·niz·er, nounan·ti·mech·a·ni·za·tion, adjectiveun·mech·a·nized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mechanized

With its screen raised, it looked more than anything else like a mechanized bathtub.
Blood in the Sand: When James Jones Wrote a Grunt’s View of D-Day|James Jones|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
World War I mechanized war on a scale never before possible—a whole array of new weapons was developed.
Life Under Air Strikes: Children Under Fire Will Never Forget — or Forgive|Clive Irving|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Chicago was the center of meatpacking, railroads, and mechanized agriculture, the flagships of industrial capitalism.
How the Jazz Age Invented Modern America|Wendy Smith|May 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Oh, yes, did I forget to mention the mechanized conveyer belt?
‘Sweet Genius’: Ron Ben-Israel is the Scariest Man on Television|Jace Lacob|April 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Perhaps our mechanized civilization is going to the dogs; as Scriven suspects and you and maybe I myself.
The Brain|Alexander Blade
Ianito has mechanized him; he is in a hypnotic state of complete subjection to the Dictator.
The Copper-Clad World|Harl Vincent
Darkover is a civilized planet with a fairly high standard of living, but it is not a mechanized or a technological culture.
The Planet Savers|Marion Zimmer Bradley
Yet there is nothing more senseless than this mechanized representation of the development of social relations.
Dictatorship vs. Democracy|Leon Trotsky
Mechanized milking equipment was also held in suspicion initially.
Frying Pan Farm|Elizabeth Brown Pryor

British Dictionary definitions for mechanized

mechanize

mechanise

/ (ˈmɛkəˌnaɪz) /

verb (tr)

to equip (a factory, industry, etc) with machinery

to make mechanical, automatic, or monotonous

to equip (an army, etc) with motorized or armoured vehicles

Derived Formsmechanization or mechanisation, nounmechanizer or mechaniser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mechanized (1 of 2)

mechanized

adj.

in the military sense of "equipped with or using mechanical vehicles and weapons," 1928, from past participle of mechanize (v.).

Word Origin and History for mechanized (1 of 2)

mechanize

1670s; see mechanic (adj.) + -ize. Related: Mechanized; mechanizing.