memorize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
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.
A simple place to start would be to memorize the best two-word speech to never appear in a major motion picture: Do better.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
None of this requires that you memorize Pi to 1,000 digits or spend weekends in memory competitions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
To support that goal, the researchers have released some questions publicly while keeping the majority hidden so that AI models cannot simply memorize the answers.
From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2026
Many commenters cheered him on, sharing stories of their own efforts to memorize the words to their favorite songs in other languages—often English.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
Each night we received two pages of code names to memorize.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
