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mechanize

[mek-uh-nahyz]
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verb (used with object), mech·a·nized, mech·a·niz·ing.
  1. to make mechanical.
  2. to operate or perform by or as if by machinery.
  3. to introduce machinery into (an industry, enterprise, etc.), especially in order to replace manual labor.
  4. Military. to equip with tanks and other armored vehicles.
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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. 2018

Related Words

motorize, industrialize, equip, rig

Examples from the Web for mechanized

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Mechanized, you will be of value to me when the great day comes.

  • Some spits were mechanized with a cogged wheel and a weight at the end of a string.

  • The officers appeared like all the other people in the clockwork culture of the mechanized New System.

    The Victor

    Bryce Walton

  • 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

  • Mechanized milking equipment was also held in suspicion initially.

    Frying Pan Farm

    Elizabeth Brown Pryor

British Dictionary definitions for mechanized

mechanize

mechanise

verb (tr)
  1. to equip (a factory, industry, etc) with machinery
  2. to make mechanical, automatic, or monotonous
  3. to equip (an army, etc) with motorized or armoured vehicles
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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

adj.

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

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mechanize

v.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper