visualize
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to make visual or visible.
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to form a mental image of.
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to make perceptible to the mind or imagination.
verb
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to form a mental image of (something incapable of being viewed or not at that moment visible)
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med to view by means of an X-ray the outline of (a bodily organ, structure, or part)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of visualize
Explanation
To visualize something is to be able to see it in your mind. From the twitching in their feet, it seems that sleeping dogs often visualize a fenced-in area and about 30 squirrels. Visualizing is a lot like imagining — both involve picturing something in your mind. But while imagine has the sense of wondering and exploring, when you visualize something, your hope is to make it real. Basketball players visualize themselves making a shot to help them sink the basketball in the hoop. Visualize yourself getting the job as you're going in to be interviewed and your chances for success will increase.
Vocabulary lists containing visualize
Common Senses: Vid, Vis ("See")
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Hatchet
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STAAR Grade 8 Reading: The Language of the Test, List 3
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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.
When you hear a series of crisp, reverberating smacks outside your window, you visualize your neighbor’s child bouncing a basketball down the street.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Another reason why your Marathon Man is a formidable way to visualize your financial future: He must embody all of your experience.
From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026
Advances in software, imaging tools, cameras, and drones have transformed how paleontologists document and visualize discoveries in both fieldwork and laboratory settings.
From Science Daily • Feb. 23, 2026
Users can deploy Claude to chat, generate code, visualize data, search the web, or create content, among other tasks.
From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026
To best illustrate a polyrhythm, the following system, known as the T.U.B.S. or Tiny Unit Box System, was developed as a way for participants to visualize the inner workings of a polyrhythm.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
