polymerize

American  

[puh-lim-uh-rahyz, pol-uh-muh-] / pəˈlɪm əˌraɪz, ˈpɒl ə mə- /

especially British, polymerise

verb (used with object)

polymerized, polymerizing

1. to subject to polymerization.

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verb (used without object)

polymerized, polymerizing

1. to undergo polymerization.

polymerize British  

/ pəˈlɪmə-, ˈpɒlɪməˌraɪz /

verb

1. to react or cause to react to form a polymer

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Other Word Forms

• unpolymerized adjective

Etymology

Origin of polymerize

First recorded in 1860–65; polymer + -ize

Example Sentences

And skip the cooking spray: It can polymerize, leaving behind a sticky residue.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

After the animal is caught, the resin begins to polymerize and harden.

From Washington Post • Jan. 20, 2014

Heat and pressure polymerize this substance into a tough, elastic product which looks much like crude natural rubber, but far surpasses it in resistance to age, heat, sunlight and gases.

From Time Magazine Archive

They had only to polymerize the chloroprene to the right point, and all of them were experienced polymerizers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Apparently this is because it facilitates the solution of bromostyrene in the tarry by-products and thus causes it to polymerize instead of reacting with the potassium hydroxide.

From Organic Syntheses by Conant, James Bryant