orchestrate
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to compose or arrange (music) for performance by an orchestra.
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to arrange or manipulate, especially by means of clever or thorough planning or maneuvering.
to orchestrate a profitable trade agreement.
verb
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to score or arrange (a piece of music) for orchestra
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to arrange, organize, or build up for special or maximum effect
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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orchestraternoun
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orchestrationnoun
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orchestratornoun
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overorchestrateverb
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reorchestrateverb
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unorchestratedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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orchestratesimple
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orchestratessimple
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have orchestratedperfect
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has orchestratedperfect
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am orchestratingprogressive
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are orchestratingprogressive
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is orchestratingprogressive
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have been orchestratingperfect progressive
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has been orchestratingperfect progressive
Past
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orchestratedsimple
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had orchestratedperfect
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was orchestratingprogressive
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were orchestratingprogressive
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had been orchestratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of orchestrate
First recorded in 1875–80; from French orchestr(er) (derivative of orchestre orchestra ) + -ate 1
Explanation
To orchestrate is to design or organize something, like a plan or a project. You could orchestrate an orchestra or you could just orchestrate a yard sale. An orchestra is a large group of classical musicians led by a conductor: it consists of many people playing together. Similarly, when we talk about orchestrating, someone is coordinating the activities of many people to accomplish something. The manager of an office orchestrates the business. A coach orchestrates the play of the team. Terrorist leaders orchestrate attacks. Orchestrating is like directing, and it applies to many more things than just music.
Vocabulary lists containing orchestrate
The Devil's Arithmetic
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The Fault in Our Stars
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"Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry, Introduction and Afterword
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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:
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to act "with full force against the terrorists and those who orchestrate and sponsor them".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Saulque and Kauk are part of an Indigenous-led coalition that has sought to help manage the horses that they call “family,” proposing to run a pack station and orchestrate equine therapy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
After being installed in his new post, Sonko promised to "not use this responsibility to orchestrate institutional chaos, to create an institutional crisis, or to cause problems for the president of the republic".
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
He strongly implies she was instructed to orchestrate her own arrest in order to create propaganda for the movement.
From Salon ● May 20, 2026
Back in Durham, NCC student leaders contacted their counterparts at Shaw University in Raleigh and urged them to orchestrate their own sit-in and to pass the word along to other black schools.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
The regime doesn’t release official economic data, tightly controls information and orchestrates what visitors can see.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
The platform orchestrates and automates customers’ decision-making through AI.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
He is so key for them with the way he orchestrates everything.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025
Tommy Dorsey orchestrates a soundtrack for his dreams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2024
Sammy orchestrates a reintroduction for me with Stone’s boss, one of the biggest numbers runners in Harlem: West Indian Archie.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
All this happens after Zack turns up with a missing toe, which Anna suspects Max orchestrated.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
According to an obviously orchestrated set of phone calls to friends, though, the guy has never been better.
From Slate ● Jul. 11, 2026
The super-fight has been orchestrated by Alalshikh, with Joshua and Fury's teams dealing directly with the Saudis over their contracts.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
While there’s nothing particularly novel about that plot, it pulls you along, and the series as a whole is orchestrated to make one care about the characters and worry over their fates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
The accusation must have been orchestrated by Goddard, because he was furious at the committee’s decision to drop the charges—and by the fact that Citra had completely vanished.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
In addition to orchestrating different AI models, the AI Control Tower is now increasingly serving as a gateway to vet nonhuman identities.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
After her departure from the cabinet in November 2024, Haigh maintained a high profile on the backbenches, playing a key role in orchestrating the Labour rebellion against proposed welfare cuts last year.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Apple on Friday sued OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company of orchestrating a campaign to steal the iPhone maker's trade secrets as it tries to develop its own consumer hardware device.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Marizel Yukee, a Nevada nurse practitioner, was charged with allegedly orchestrating a $906 million Medicare fraud scheme in which she both received and paid kickbacks in connection with providing medically unnecessary wound allografts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
The historical record makes it perfectly clear, to be sure, that Jefferson was orchestrating the campaign of vilification, which had its chief base of operations in Virginia and its headquarters at Monticello.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
