optimize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
optimizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
optimized,
past participle, past
-
optimizing
present participle
-
to make as effective, perfect, or useful as possible.
-
to make the best of.
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Computers. to write or rewrite (the instructions in a program) so as to maximize efficiency and speed in retrieval, storage, or execution.
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Mathematics. to determine the maximum or minimum values of (a specified function that is subject to certain constraints).
verb (used without object)
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optimizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
optimized,
past participle, past
-
optimizing
present participle
verb
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(tr) to take the full advantage of
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(tr) to plan or carry out (an economic activity) with maximum efficiency
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(intr) to be optimistic
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(tr) to write or modify (a computer program) to achieve maximum efficiency in storage capacity, time, cost, etc
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(tr) to find the best compromise among several often conflicting requirements, as in engineering design
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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optimizesimple
-
optimizessimple
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have optimizedperfect
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has optimizedperfect
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am optimizingprogressive
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are optimizingprogressive
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is optimizingprogressive
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have been optimizingperfect progressive
-
has been optimizingperfect progressive
Past
-
optimizedsimple
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had optimizedperfect
-
was optimizingprogressive
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were optimizingprogressive
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had been optimizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of optimize
Explanation
Optimize means to make the best possible use of something. If you optimize your home storage capacity, you clean and organize your closets and drawers to be able to fit the most in. Before the advent of the Internet, the word optimize was mostly used to describe the act of being really positive about the world, or being an optimist. But today one can scarcely hear the word without thinking about how to optimize a website or make it as efficient as possible. SEO, standing for "search engine optimization," refers to this process of optimizing a website to make it appear more frequently in web searches.
Vocabulary lists containing optimize
Engineering - Introductory
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Engineering: Defining Problems and Designing Solutions - Introductory
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Mathematical Modeling
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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:
It helps younger people and athletes optimize athletic performance, prevent sports-related injuries and stay fit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
We’re all sitting at home sipping adaptogenic mushroom tonics, journaling our feelings and politely declining invitations to any event after 7 p.m. because we’d rather optimize our sleep scores than take a tequila shot.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Connected devices routinely send information back to the router to help optimize wireless communication.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
Officials at the quarterly meeting also vowed to accelerate fiscal spending and the use of bond proceeds, while stepping up efforts to expand domestic demand and optimize supply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
He taught her how to tell time and direction from the stars, and she showed him how to open the expert software in the boards to optimize them for night travel.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
Nielsen, the longtime powerhouse in TV ratings, agreed to buy DoubleVerify, a software platform that verifies media quality and optimizes advertising performance, in a deal with an enterprise value of about $2.15 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
He expects Nestlé’s revenue growth to reaccelerate as it optimizes its portfolio around areas like coffee and pet care.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Apple’s new CEO is a person who builds things, not one who optimizes supply chains.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026
Mattel said the job cuts are part of an effort to save money as the company optimizes for growth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
Such a structure is generated by the technological implementation of the brain, and it optimizes the activity of the brain in a section of the external reality.
From The Brain, A Decoded Enigma by Dorin Teodor Moisa
More work will still be needed before the fabrication process can be optimized for large-scale manufacturing.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
I have optimized away the moments in which friendship used to appear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
However, Sobko said the Nvidia GB300 systems are optimized both for model development and high-performance inference workloads.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
It is curated, ranked, monetized and constantly optimized using first-party data that tracks what people watch, when they watch it and how they respond to ads.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
The members decided to fund two machines of different sizes, each optimized to produce different particles; the only question left was which lab would build which machine.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
When it comes to fitness and longevity, cardio, strength training and stretching have long gotten the spotlight as the go-to approaches for optimizing our health span and lifespan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Roche achieved that level of profitability by optimizing research-and-development investment, while savings reduced its selling, general and administration expenses, the analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
"I think we'll get to a point where if I have to request headcount, I'll be asked, 'How are you optimizing AI?'" before any new hire is approved, Euller told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Future studies are expected to focus on orthotopic validation, optimizing dosing strategies, tracking nitric oxide activity over longer periods, and investigating the underlying mechanisms in additional central nervous system tumor models.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 27, 2026
At Mirror Tech we’re dedicated to optimizing human potential.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
