relocate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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to move or be moved to a new place, esp (of an employee, a business, etc) to a new area or place of employment
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(intr) (of an employee, a business, etc) to move for reasons of business to a new area or place of employment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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relocatesimple
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relocatessimple
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have relocatedperfect
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has relocatedperfect
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am relocatingprogressive
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are relocatingprogressive
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is relocatingprogressive
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have been relocatingperfect progressive
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has been relocatingperfect progressive
Past
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relocatedsimple
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had relocatedperfect
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was relocatingprogressive
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were relocatingprogressive
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had been relocatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of relocate
Explanation
When you relocate, you move to a new location and settle into a new place. If you live in New York City but you get a job in Phoenix, you'll have to relocate to Arizona to start your new career. The word relocate came into English in the 1800s from re, meaning "back, again," and locate, meaning "to settle." Relocate refers not only to moving to a new place but also to establishing yourself there. It typically involves finding a new place to live, making new friends, finding your way around your new town or city — even getting cable TV installed. For some people, this can be an exciting adventure; for others, it's a daunting challenge of to-do lists.
Vocabulary lists containing relocate
"When Cultures Meet"
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Word Generation Weekly - Series 1
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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:
Oxygen loss can reduce or relocate their prey, damage habitats and alter the food webs they depend on.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
He wants to relocate part of the Downing Street operation to Manchester in Northern England, a policy that is already prompted eye rolling among some civil servants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Faced with having to relocate, residents worried about finding comparably cheap housing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
In an email sent to residents on Monday, Persimmon said it "strongly recommended that all residents temporarily relocate" due to the "high fire risk identified within the building".
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Both of them are probably helping to relocate hospital patients.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
If a family relocates, say, for a better job, they can carry their assistance with them within a given region.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Qiu's research suggests pollution is shifting west as heavy industry relocates to regions like Xinjiang, and that some cities in China have seen double-digit percentage increases in PM2.5 in the last five years.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
Outcast Henry's life fails to improve when his family relocates to Hawkins, where he spends his free time hanging out with spiders in an attic.
From BBC ● Nov. 26, 2025
The elementary school relocates out of town during red-flag days.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025
General Douglas MacArthur, the officer in charge of the United States Army Forces in the Far East, abandons his home in Manila and relocates to the fortified island of Corregidor.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Railroad company CSX covered a $1.6 million loss on the sale of its chief operating officer’s house when he relocated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Around 700 people left their homes as a precaution in Le Porge, where more than 3,000 campers were also relocated, the prefecture said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Before I relocated to the Pacific Northwest, I had only seen whales and other wildlife common to this region on TV.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
The family relocated to New Zealand when Neill was seven.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Pop and Dad say that Erin is obviously being relocated, but by whom and why, no one knows.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
Elite netball teams are relocating from sports halls to major arenas, and players are noticing a difference in their pay packets.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Since her husband at the time had previously lived in Paris and had family there, relocating to France made sense.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
Specht, 36, said he took the written test in January after relocating to Sacramento from Chicago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
The TV Festival is relocating from Edinburgh to Manchester next year after half a century.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
White knew that relocating to Oklahoma would be a great burden to his family.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
