Synonyms

standardize

American

[stan-der-dahyz] / ˈstæn dərˌdaɪz /

especially British, standardise

verb (used with object)

to bring to or make of an established standard size, weight, quality, strength, or the like.

to standardize manufactured parts.
to compare with or test by a standard.
to choose or establish a standard for.

verb (used without object)

to become standardized.

standardize British

/ ˈstændəˌdaɪz /

verb

to make or become standard
(tr) to test by or compare with a standard

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Present

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Etymology

Origin of standardize

First recorded in 1870–75; standard + -ize

Explanation

To standardize something is to make it fit a certain guideline or requirement. If a school decides to standardize its grading system, it makes sure every teacher gives grades in exactly the same way. Use the verb standardize to describe what an organization or company does when it makes a product or rule conform to a certain model. Often, to standardize things is to make them all exactly the same. When a city standardizes all its playground equipment, every park begins to look alike, with the same slides, swings, and sandboxes.

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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:

standardize standardizes standardized standardizing

The findings come as state officials are proposing to overhaul decades-old pesticide regulations to toughen enforcement and standardize penalties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

Under the new approach, set to take effect Sept. 1, UPS said it plans to standardize key operational processes across geographies while remaining flexible to meet the needs of local markets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Companionship services are fragmented, hard to standardize, and vulnerable to safety concerns.

From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026

And unlike images—which can be distilled into objective gradations of red, green and blue light—smell is highly subjective, making it tough to standardize and calibrate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

Gey and several colleagues had already organized a committee to develop procedures to “simplify and standardize the technique of tissue culturing.”

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

The revised directive “simply standardizes the required forms.”

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2026

The C.D.C. now has a similar process: The agency collects data from hospitals, counties and states, and then it standardizes and reports the data to the public.

From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2023

The resolution, she said, standardizes the exemption and will help speed efforts by humanitarian workers to provide aid to people.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2022

This latest iteration of Thread standardizes border routers so that companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google can produce them in a way that device vendors can rely on.

From The Verge ● Jul. 19, 2022

The clock standardizes our subjective tempos and we control ourselves by the clock.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Robert Ezra Park

She now represents a central Austin district in the Texas House, where she’s worked on a wide set of education issues, from directing more tax dollars to neighborhood public schools to curbing standardized testing.

From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026

Researchers say clinical trials will need to use carefully characterized and standardized mulberry preparations.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

And she said the racial disparities in SAT results are seen in other standardized measures of academic knowledge and reflect of the nation’s inequalities in K-12 education rather than a specific problem with the SAT.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

The company added standardized search categories and will require a case number for law-enforcement searches by the end of the year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Sophie’s frustration during high school stemmed from the Nazis’ new standardized school curriculum.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

While pilots and instructors stress standardizing procedures and flight paths, news incidents like police chases, fires, and crashes force pilots into new conditions during every flight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

Many in the industry have touted federal intervention as a way to “save” college sports by standardizing how recruitment and payment of athletes work.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

"That means sugar yields fluctuate... and that means alcohol output changes. So standardizing production becomes difficult. Mexico solved this over decades through selective breeding. India hasn't yet," he says.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

By standardizing MRI data and clinical information from many research groups, the team created the largest stroke neuroimaging dataset of its kind.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026

He rebels against all that would cripple individual effort and against all modern standardizing whether it applies to the choice of a profession or to the cut of a garment.

From Knut Hamsun by Hanna Astrup Larsen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023