memorize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
memorizesimple
-
memorizessimple
-
have memorizedperfect
-
has memorizedperfect
-
am memorizingprogressive
-
are memorizingprogressive
-
is memorizingprogressive
-
have been memorizingperfect progressive
-
has been memorizingperfect progressive
Past
-
memorizedsimple
-
had memorizedperfect
-
was memorizingprogressive
-
were memorizingprogressive
-
had been memorizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of memorize
Explanation
If you memorize something you know it by heart. When you were a little kid, you were probably asked to memorize “The Pledge of Allegiance,” meaning you could recite it from memory with no cheat sheets. To memorize something is to get it into your memory, but it usually implies you’re learning something more complex than a new acquaintance’s name or the time of your next dentist appointment. People typically memorize things like multiplication tables, the periodic chart, Shakespearian quotes, lines for the community theater play, and their nine hundred different online passwords. There are many systems that people use for memorization: flash cards, association, color coding, and even sleeping with the book under their pillow.
Vocabulary lists containing memorize
Holes
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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The Circuit
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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.
“I was scared I was going to be taken away without my family even knowing. I had to memorize two phone numbers in case they did take me.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2026
My father’s sight was so bad that he had to look at the music about 2 inches away, memorize one or two phrases and then practice what he memorized.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
Well, you don’t have that much time to memorize that stuff because you get the script and I’m learning 50 pages of dialogue every eight or 10 days.
From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026
"They just memorize, and they can give you some insight, but they don't understand what they're talking about."
From Science Daily • Mar. 17, 2026
She held up the thick picture book I’d used to memorize titles and artists.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
