specialized

especially British, spe·cial·ised

[spesh-uh-lahyzd]

adjective

1. invested with a special character or restricted to a special function or field of activity.

   He campaigned for a specialized burn department to be established at the hospital.

   The humanities, once a highly specialized pursuit, have rapidly become a much broader conversation.

2. Biology.,  (of an organism or organ) adapted to a special function or environment.

   If the coastal sage scrub were to vanish, so would these specialized species of insects that are dependent on it.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of specialize.

Other Word Forms

• nonspecialized adjective
• overspecialized adjective
• unspecialized adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of specialized¹

specialize ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Using the VLT and specialized instruments, the international team captured the early behavior of the explosion.

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This unusual and highly specialized subset of T helper cells continues to rise in number with age and appears to play an important role in slowing the aging process.

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Caterpillar’s natural-gas turbines and specialized engines are used in areas like energy to pump fuels through pipelines, for instance.

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“It does take significant resources, both specialized talent and also GPUs, to do something at Composer’s scale,” said Truell, referring to graphics processing units.

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Retailers often outsource cheaper labor overseas to make specialized materials or equipment, lowering the price tag of the finished product.

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