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:
Tech enthusiasts are eager for us to merge with machines: Ray Kurzweil, the futurist and inventor, thinks that nanotech brain implants will make us godlike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The deal -- long contested by Commerzbank -- should enable UniCredit to merge Commerzbank with its German subsidiary HypoVereinsbank, acquired in 2005.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Some analysts expect SpaceX and Tesla to merge in the future, although the timing of that isn’t obvious.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
The show will merge not only the cultural resonance of the two in Mexican American culture, but also unite the sounds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Smaller units do not voluntarily abandon their sovereignty and merge into larger units.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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
After confirming the journey on a touchscreen, the vehicle merges into Beijing's dense traffic, navigating buses, cyclists, scooters and pedestrians with little hesitation.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
SAG-AFTRA says the new four-year deal offers protections related to artificial intelligence, increases minimum wage rates by 3% annually and merges the pension plans of previously separate unions SAG and AFTRA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
Ouster’s technology gives technology developers a single sensing option that merges camera-level tech with lidar.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
I settle into the passenger seat and cue up my playlist while Abby merges onto the highway.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
UBS traces its history to 1862 and briefly became the world’s second-largest bank by assets when Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation merged to form the modern institution in 1998.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The newly merged company has high debt, aggressive financial targets, and integration challenges.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
There will be concern too that the pressures of a long, hot summer have merged almost seamlessly into the pressures associated with the winter months.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Ellison has called the merged company, Skydance, the name he selected two decades ago when he began building his Hollywood studio.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
When Dracula turned into a bat at the window, the night behind him merged with the night around us.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
It has raised the profile of numerous artists, with a soundtrack merging old favourites with new music.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Options under discussion include buying a U.S.-based financial institution and relocating, merging with a European rival or selling itself to a U.S. firm seeking its well-heeled clientele, the people familiar with the matter said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The findings raise the possibility that some mysterious cosmic flashes, whose sources have been difficult to explain, may actually come from merging neutron stars.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
The merging companies typically send information that helps the government figure out what the market impact will be of a merger, he added.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Streams of people brushed past us, and with the loud bargaining, the laughter, the arguing, and the honking of cars in the distance, everything felt like it was merging into one beating pulse.
From "Amal Unbound" by Aisha Saeed
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
