concentrate

American  

[kon-suhn-treyt] / ˈkɒn sənˌtreɪt /

verb (used with object)

concentrated, concentrating

1. to bring or draw to a common center or point of union; converge; direct toward one point; focus.

   to concentrate one's attention on a problem; to concentrate the rays of the sun with a lens.

   Antonyms:

   disperse, dissipate

2. to put or bring into a single place, group, etc..

   The nation's wealth had been concentrated in a few families.

3. to intensify; make denser, stronger, or purer, especially by the removal or reduction of liquid.

   to concentrate fruit juice; to concentrate a sauce by boiling it down.

4. Mining. to separate (metal or ore) from rock, sand, etc., so as to improve the quality of the valuable portion.

---

verb (used without object)

concentrated, concentrating

1. to bring all efforts, faculties, activities, etc., to bear on one thing or activity (often followed by on orupon ).

   to concentrate on solving a problem.

   Antonyms:

   diverge

2. to come to or toward a common center; converge; collect.

   The population concentrated in one part of the city.

3. to become more intense, stronger, or purer.

noun

1. a concentrated form of something; a product of concentration.

   a juice concentrate.

concentrate British  

/ ˈkɒnsənˌtreɪt /

verb

1. to come or cause to come to a single purpose or aim

   to concentrate one's hopes on winning

2. to make or become denser or purer by the removal of certain elements, esp the solvent of a solution

3. (tr) to remove rock or sand from (an ore) to make it purer

4. to bring one's faculties to bear (on); think intensely (about)

---

noun

1. a concentrated material or solution

   tomato concentrate

Related Words

See contract.

Other Word Forms

• concentrative adjective
• concentrativeness noun
• concentrator noun
• nonconcentrative adjective
• nonconcentrativeness noun
• overconcentrate verb
• preconcentrate noun
• reconcentrate verb
• unconcentrative adjective

Etymology

Origin of concentrate

First recorded in 1630–40; from French concentr(er) or Italian concentr(are) ( con-, center ) + -ate ¹

Related Words

• accumulate
• cluster
• combine
• consolidate
• eliminate
• focus
• integrate
• intensify
• reduce
• strengthen