merge
Americanverb (used with object)
-
merges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
merged,
past participle, past
-
merging
present participle
-
to cause to combine or coalesce; unite.
- Synonyms:
- consolidate, amalgamate
-
to combine, blend, or unite gradually so as to blur the individuality or individual identity of.
They voted to merge the two branch offices into a single unit.
- Synonyms:
- consolidate, amalgamate
verb (used without object)
-
merges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
merged,
past participle, past
-
merging
present participle
-
to become combined, united, swallowed up, or absorbed; lose identity by uniting or blending (often followed by in orinto ).
This stream merges into the river up ahead.
- Synonyms:
- consolidate, amalgamate
-
to combine or unite into a single enterprise, organization, body, etc..
The two firms merged last year.
verb
-
to meet and join or cause to meet and join
-
to blend or cause to blend; fuse
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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mergencenoun
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remergeverb
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demergeverb (used with object)
-
unmergeverb (used with object)
-
antimergingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mergesimple
-
mergessimple
-
have mergedperfect
-
has mergedperfect
-
am mergingprogressive
-
are mergingprogressive
-
is mergingprogressive
-
have been mergingperfect progressive
-
has been mergingperfect progressive
Past
-
mergedsimple
-
had mergedperfect
-
was mergingprogressive
-
were mergingprogressive
-
had been mergingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of merge
First recorded in 1630–40, merge is from the Latin word mergere to dip, immerse, plunge into water
Explanation
The verb merge means to seamlessly join something. For example, when you merge onto the highway, you need to smoothly join the traffic, forgetting everything you learned riding the bumper cars at the fair. If two or more things become one, they merge. If your favorite deli, The Cheese Stop, merges with a sandwich shop called Chez Lui, the two restaurants might also merge their names, becoming Chez Cheese. You can also use merge when things only appear to blend. You know it's time to go to sleep when the words in your book begin to merge together.
Vocabulary lists containing merge
"Names/Nombres" by Julia Alvarez
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Ghost Boys
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Business, List 3
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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:
BPM last week dropped out of talks to merge with Monte dei Paschi, but Monte dei Paschi’s board previously raised concerns about the price offered by Intesa and flagged other risks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The 2015 “Secret Wars” story featured some plotting by Doctor Doom and saw multiverses collide, be destroyed and merge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Different parts of a person's life could merge into a single vivid scene.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
Authorities are also monitoring a separate wildfire in nearby Ávila province, where officials fear the huge Burgohondo blaze could merge with the Madrid fire.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
I would make these lives merge with the lives of the mass of mankind.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
Critics say it shows the dangers of the so-called roll-up strategy, in which a buyer—often a private-equity firm—acquires and merges many small competing companies into a single large one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Additionally, the contract merges the pension plans of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which were previously separate but combined in 2012 to form SAG-AFTRA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Ouster’s technology gives technology developers a single sensing option that merges camera-level tech with lidar.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
The organ merges into Terry's writing desk, loaded with nods to his multi-faceted career.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
The stream merges with the other one, the pond stream, farther down the valley, and they flow out the gap as one.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
He acknowledged that the merger would bring some layoffs due to overlapping roles of the now merged workforce.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
In 2009, he merged his company into Natural Food Holdings, which was later bought by Perdue Farms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
In 2023, Hassabis’s Google DeepMind, parts of Google Brain, and the broader Google research team merged into one organization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
BP rival Shell last year merged its North Sea assets with those of Norway's Equinor.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
I was walking slowly, staggering from hunger, back pain, and fatigue, when I ran into some young people my age at an intersection where two paths merged into one.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
These layoffs are part of an initiative aimed at streamlining package pickups and deliveries by merging ground and express delivery networks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
More than 440 colleges are at risk of closing or merging in the next decade, according to a forecast by the Huron Consulting Group, which advises schools on operations and mergers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Another possibility is that a dwarf galaxy is still in the process of merging with the larger system.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
On Tesla’s earnings call with investors last week, Musk was asked about the possibility of Tesla and SpaceX merging.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
The side benches ran the whole length of the boat, merging at the bow and stern to form end benches that were roughly triangular in shape.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
