mobilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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mobilizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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mobilized,
past participle, past
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mobilizing
present participle
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to assemble or marshal (armed forces, military reserves, or civilian persons of military age) into readiness for active service.
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to organize or adapt (industries, transportation facilities, etc.) for service to the government in time of war.
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to marshal, bring together, prepare (power, force, wealth, etc.) for action, especially of a vigorous nature.
to mobilize one's energy.
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to increase or bring to a full stage of development.
to mobilize one's anger.
verb (used without object)
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mobilizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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mobilized,
past participle, past
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mobilizing
present participle
verb
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to prepare for war or other emergency by organizing (national resources, the armed services, etc)
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(tr) to organize for a purpose; marshal
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(tr) to put into motion, circulation, or use
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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mobilizationnoun
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mobilizernoun
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overmobilizeverb
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remobilizeverb
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mobilizableadjective
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unmobilizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mobilizesimple
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mobilizessimple
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have mobilizedperfect
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has mobilizedperfect
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am mobilizingprogressive
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are mobilizingprogressive
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is mobilizingprogressive
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have been mobilizingperfect progressive
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has been mobilizingperfect progressive
Past
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mobilizedsimple
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had mobilizedperfect
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was mobilizingprogressive
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were mobilizingprogressive
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had been mobilizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mobilize
First recorded in 1830–40; back formation from mobilization; see mobile, -ization
Explanation
Use the verb mobilize to describe preparing something — or someone — to spring into action, or to be put into use. You might mobilize the troops, or even your classmates, into action. A busy mother might mobilize her kids to grab their lunches and head out to the bus stop on time, and a detective might mobilize her resources before tracking down a wily criminal. Mobilize literally means "make mobile," and the Latin root is mobilis, "movable, pliable, or flexible."
Vocabulary lists containing mobilize
World War II
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March: Book Three
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Because They Marched
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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:
But is the intent to mobilize the public’s power, or to recruit their viewership?
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
Four days after the Taalas announcement, Nvidia signed preliminary agreements with Apollo, Blackstone, Brookfield, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and KKR to establish financing platforms intended to mobilize over $500 billion for AI infrastructure.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Black clergy in the city, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, are redoubling their efforts to mobilize voters.
From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026
Those photons then mobilize the semiconductor's electric charge carriers.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
Distressed by the political disarray in the state governments in the 1780s and the congenital weakness of the Articles of Confederation, Madison had helped mobilize the movement for the Constitutional Convention.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Development Finance Corporation, a government agency that typically mobilizes capital for investment in developing countries, will provide discounted political risk insurance and guarantees for maritime transit.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
Society mobilizes that power for collective ends, creating conflict between individuals, inside groups and between different groups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
In this sense, hagiography is not simply about remembering the dead: It mobilizes the living.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2025
Art mobilizes against bullets, bombs and tanks in “Porcelain War,” a documentary about how beauty not only persists amid the wreckage of warfare but serves as a necessary existential weapon of its own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2025
“Look how El Lider mobilizes the people to protect his causes,” Jorge del Pino told his daughter.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Almost every week this summer brought new reports of drone incursions over the alliance’s eastern frontier and North Atlantic Treaty Organization jets mobilized to shoot them down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Colombians outside the quake zone have mobilized in massive numbers to ease victims' suffering.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Texans have mobilized across the state to oppose the new developments, airing concerns that the facilities will drain local water supplies, drive up electric bills and cause noise, light and air pollution.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
Instead, the conflict has emboldened Iran’s leaders and mobilized their supporters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
About 65 million men were mobilized to fight.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
The group is expected to focus on door-to-door canvassing, digital advertising and direct mail aimed at mobilizing conservative voters who are less likely to participate in non-presidential elections.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
“There’s obviously a sense of fear in mobilizing from one place to another.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
The Pentagon is mobilizing its jets, troops and medics for something much bigger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Some older borrowers are mobilizing online in hopes of having their debts wiped out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
The only other means of mobilizing people rapidly and entirely is with a new religion; none was handy; he would make do with war.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.
