as in to inhabit
to supply with inhabitants
believes that someday humans will be sent to colonize Mars
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Recent Examples of colonize
And tribes in what is now California — which was colonized not once but three times — have a uniquely complex and shattered history.
—
Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2025
Vietnam was colonized by the French, which largely explains why the banh mi is served on a French baguette.
—Kaitlyn Rosati, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2025
Or maybe one dreams of leaving a dying Earth to colonize Mars or other distant planets.
—ArsTechnica, 25 Apr. 2025
But to house an entire nation underground for even a few days is akin to trying to colonize the moon: There are so many unknowns that even the most brilliant and thorough plans can easily fail.
—Jessi Jezewska Stevens, The Dial, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colonize
Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2025
Vietnam was colonized by the French, which largely explains why the banh mi is served on a French baguette.
—Kaitlyn Rosati, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2025
Or maybe one dreams of leaving a dying Earth to colonize Mars or other distant planets.
—ArsTechnica, 25 Apr. 2025
But to house an entire nation underground for even a few days is akin to trying to colonize the moon: There are so many unknowns that even the most brilliant and thorough plans can easily fail.
—Jessi Jezewska Stevens, The Dial, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colonize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonize
Verb
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As the novel goes on, the more brutal a character’s conditions are, the more carefully Choi writes them, forcing readers to slow down and inhabit them.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
3 June 2025
-
With the help of vampire-biochemist Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), Diana sets about solving the book's mysteries while avoiding attacks from angry spirits and monsters that inhabit the pages.—
Declan Gallagher,
EW.com,
1 June 2025
Verb
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The former work is dishwasher-sized and features a blue sky above an autumnal landscape populated by George Washington, school children, and some deer.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 June 2025
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The fish spread downstream, populating the fast-water reaches and leaving the more placid stretches to catfish and carp, and in some places to largemouths which have been stocked from time to time but never too successfully.—
Arthur Grahame,
Outdoor Life,
4 June 2025
Verb
-
Sure, your team is still peopled with the same flawed human beings, still maddeningly inconsistent and impossible to predict.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
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Louis is the kind of polarizing character who people either really loved or loved to hate.—
Max Gao,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Colonize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonize. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
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