SYNCHRONISE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does synchronise mean? 

• SYNCHRONISE (verb)
  The verb SYNCHRONISE has 6 senses:

1. happen at the same time

2. make (motion picture sound) exactly simultaneous with the action

3. arrange or represent events so that they co-occur

4. operate simultaneously

5. cause to indicate the same time or rate

6. make synchronous and adjust in time or manner

  Familiarity information: SYNCHRONISE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SYNCHRONISE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they synchronise    ... he / she / it synchronises   
Past simple: synchronised   
Past participle: synchronised   
-ing form: synchronising   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Happen at the same time

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

contemporise; contemporize; synchronise; synchronize

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

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

synchronisation; synchrony (the relation that exists when things occur at the same time)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make (motion picture sound) exactly simultaneous with the action

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

synchronise; synchronize

Context example:

synchronize this film

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

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Domain category:

film; flick; motion-picture show; motion picture; movie; moving-picture show; moving picture; pic; picture; picture show (a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "synchronise"):

dub (provide (movies) with a soundtrack of a foreign language)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Arrange or represent events so that they co-occur

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

contemporise; contemporize; synchronise; synchronize

Context example:

synchronize biblical events

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

arrange; order; put; set up (arrange thoughts, ideas, temporal events)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

synchrony (the relation that exists when things occur at the same time)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Operate simultaneously

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

synchronise; synchronize

Context example:

The clocks synchronize

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

control; operate (handle and cause to function)

Verb group:

synchronise; synchronize (cause to indicate the same time or rate)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Cause to indicate the same time or rate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

synchronise; synchronize

Context example:

synchronize your watches

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

adjust; align; aline; line up (place in a line or arrange so as to be parallel or straight)

Verb group:

synchronise; synchronize (operate simultaneously)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make synchronous and adjust in time or manner

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

sync; synchronise; synchronize

Context example:

Let's synchronize our efforts

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

adjust; correct; set (alter or regulate so as to achieve accuracy or conform to a standard)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "synchronise"):

phase (adjust so as to be in a synchronized condition)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

desynchronise (cause to become desynchronized; cause to occur at unrelated times)

Derivation:

synchronisation (coordinating by causing to indicate the same time)

synchronisation (an adjustment that causes something to occur or recur in unison)

synchroniser (an instrument that indicates whether two periodic motions are synchronous (especially an instrument that enables a pilot to synchronize the propellers of a plane that has two or more engines))

synchronising (an adjustment that causes something to occur or recur in unison)

synchrony (the relation that exists when things occur at the same time)

 Context examples 

But unlike humans, plants don’t have a brain to keep their clocks synchronised.

(Plants can tell time even without a brain, University of Cambridge)

Mothers’ and babies’ brains can work together as a ‘mega-network’ by synchronising brain waves when they interact.

(Mothers’ and babies’ brains ‘more in tune’ when mother is happy, University of Cambridge)

Some firefly species form spatial wave patterns as they synchronise their flashes with their neighbours.

(Plants can tell time even without a brain, University of Cambridge)

They found that mums and babies tend to synchronise their brain waves – an effect known as interpersonal neural connectivity - particularly in the frequency of 6-9 hertz, the infant alpha range.

(Mothers’ and babies’ brains ‘more in tune’ when mother is happy, University of Cambridge)