COLONIZE

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does colonize mean? 

• COLONIZE (verb)
  The verb COLONIZE has 2 senses:

1. settle as a colony; of countries in the developing world

2. settle as colonists or establish a colony (in)

  Familiarity information: COLONIZE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COLONIZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they colonize    ... he / she / it colonizes   
Past simple: colonized   
Past participle: colonized   
-ing form: colonizing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Settle as a colony; of countries in the developing world

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

colonise; colonize

Context example:

Europeans colonized Africa in the 17th century

Hypernyms (to "colonize" is one way to...):

annex (take (territory) as if by conquest)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

decolonize (grant independence to (a former colony))

Derivation:

colonization (the act of colonizing; the establishment of colonies)

colonizer (someone who helps to found a colony)

colony (a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Settle as colonists or establish a colony (in)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

colonise; colonize

Context example:

The British colonized the East Coast

Hypernyms (to "colonize" is one way to...):

locate; settle (take up residence and become established)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

colonization (the act of colonizing; the establishment of colonies)

colony (a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government)

 Context examples 

The team's findings overturn a prevailing model of evolution, which holds that the key criteria for animals' access to an island are its size and its distance from the colonizing animals' source territory.

(Fossil discovery adds to understanding of how geological changes affected evolution of mammalian life, National Science Foundation)

Mice colonized with S. epidermidis were protected against later infection with a disease-causing fungus.

(Skin Microbes and the Immune Response, NIH)

A. naeslundii is a commensal organism of the oral cavity and colonizes tooth surfaces but may cause infection and periodontal disease in cases in which oral trauma occurs.

(Actinomyces naeslundii, NCI Thesaurus)

Many pathogenic bacteria can invade phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells, colonize them intracellularly, and then become disseminated to other cells.

(Bacterial Invasion of Epithelial Cell Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

However only the piliated variant can colonize the conjunctiva.

(Moraxella bovis, NCI Thesaurus)

E. vulneris is a human pathogen that can colonize the respiratory tract, female genital tract, and stool and has a particular propensity for wounds.

(Escherichia vulneris, NCI Thesaurus)

C. cocleatum is a component of the intestinal microflora but may provide a mechanism by which other bacteria can colonize and infect, through its mucin degrading properties.

(Clostridium cocleatum, NCI Thesaurus)

Furthermore, mouse cells colonized the hydrogel and secreted extracellular matrix.

(Scientists design a new hydrogel that helps regenerate cartilage, University of Granada)

One gene, called CLE53, reduces colonization rates once the roots have been colonized.

(Plant gene discovery could help reduce fertilizer pollution in waterways, National Science Foundation)

However, if the skin barrier is broken, or the immune system compromised, these colonizing bacteria can cause serious infections.

(Study finds probiotic Bacillus eliminates Staphylococcus bacteria, National Institutes of Health)