memorize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
memorizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
memorized,
past participle, past
-
memorizing
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
memorizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
memorized,
past participle, past
-
memorizing
present participle
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.
See Examples For:
As we wait for the light to change, he stares at my face like he’s trying to memorize it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
“The Nordschleife allows you to string together corners in a way that you don’t memorize them so well, like you do on a normal test track in a shorter space,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
“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
December 5 is her dance recital—like I’m supposed to memorize her schedule!
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
Although many friends love Wordle and crossword puzzles, Viorst memorizes poems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
See that stuff, memorizing that — who memorizes who played this in a movie?
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2024
It’s why he rarely uses notes in his public appearances and memorizes vast amounts of facts and figures.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2023
Roeder himself competes in the World Series of Poker and the Scrabble Players Championship, for which he memorizes nearly 35,000 words.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 4, 2022
She reads the first half of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea so many times, she practically memorizes it.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
But AI wasn’t allowed for quizzes or exams testing memorized subjects, said the 22-year-old, who majored in business computer information systems.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
She’s a very strong woman, and I honestly couldn’t believe how she memorized the song and kept humming it and recorded it so quickly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
This refers to the ability to apply learned skills beyond the exact situations encountered during training, using general rules rather than memorized examples.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 28, 2026
Usually the kids from one grade recite a poem they’ve memorized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
“I’ll be good and brave and smart and kind,” Josie said, as if she’d memorized her lines.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The role required memorizing lengthy dialogue loaded with dates and names.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
OK cool, but I’m not memorizing a dozen names.
From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026
The researchers compared this to a student who scores well by memorizing test formats without actually understanding the material.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 30, 2026
Deeper analysis showed ravens were in fact revisiting spots where wolves commonly took down prey -- animals like deer, elk or bison -- suggesting the birds were creating and memorizing a "resource landscape."
From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 2026
For weeks he'd been working on memorizing a poem he said he'd written.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
