relocate
Americanverb (used with object)
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relocates,
present (3rd person singular)
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relocated,
past participle, past
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relocating
present participle
verb (used without object)
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relocates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
relocated,
past participle, past
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relocating
present participle
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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Lesson 1
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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:
Federal biologists made a last-minute decision to relocate the eggs to the aquarium on Sept. 29, after forecasters predicted that high tides would swamp the nests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
The project to relocate birds from the Highlands to a secret location in the Moffat Hills started in the summer of 2018.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
JPMorgan’s consumer bank will relocate there once work is done.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The kingdom shares a rugged, mountainous, 800-mile border with Yemen, giving Houthi mobile launchers ample cover to fire and quickly relocate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
The British tightly control who leaves and where they relocate.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
Eventually, with the help of a former colleague in Tokyo who’s become an antiques importer in Washington state, Rika flees her husband and relocates with Naomi, under a new name, to Seattle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 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
In the new show, Reagan relocates to Boston and eventually teams up with Det.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2025
In the winter, she relocates to the outskirts of Dehradun, near the Himalayan foothills.
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2024
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
Her former family home was in Sherborn, Mass. From there, they packed up their belongings and relocated to a house on 26 acres in Vermont.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
"When the Thais dismantled them, they just relocated the operations. The same organisations came to Madagascar," Ralihivao told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026
A native of Honduras, she relocated to the L.A. area at age 14 and was quickly enamored of the Mexican culture that surrounded her — specifically, the vivacious Día de los Muertos celebrations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
"It's going to be a long process of recovery of the habitat and some species like the deer and the birds have relocated to other parts of the reserve," he explained.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
When Dorothy was eight, the family relocated to Morgantown, West Virginia, where her father accepted a job working for a successful Negro restaurateur.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Economic activity in affected regions is 1.5 percent lower two years after a heatwave and three percent lower four years after a drought, driven by lower productivity and people relocating, according to ECB estimates.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
Rather than simply relocating, at least some blue cones may undergo a change in identity, becoming red or green cones as the eye develops.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
When you move abroad, you are relocating that life.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Options under discussion include buying a U.S.-based financial institution and relocating, merging with a European rival or selling itself to a U.S. firm seeking its well-heeled clientele, the people familiar with the matter said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
I type Arthur Georgia and there’s nothing but randomness, like a girl named Georgia binge-watching every King Arthur movie, and nothing about Post Office Arthur relocating from Georgia for the summer.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
