industrialize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to introduce industry into (an area) on a large scale.
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to convert to the ideals, methods, aims, etc., of industrialism.
verb (used without object)
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to undergo industrialization.
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to follow or espouse industrialism.
verb
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(tr) to develop industry on an extensive scale in (a country, region, etc)
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(intr) (of a country, region, etc) to undergo the development of industry on an extensive scale
Other Word Forms
- industrialization noun
- nonindustrialized adjective
- overindustrialize verb
- semi-industrialized adjective
- unindustrialized adjective
Etymology
Origin of industrialize
First recorded in 1880–85; industrial + -ize
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.
Countries that industrialized, prospered; those that failed to industrialize, floundered.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
“How to meet that demand will be solved by companies that can industrialize at scale,” Strazik said.
From Barron's • Feb. 8, 2026
In South Korea, the country’s sprawling family-run conglomerates turbocharged the "Miracle on the Han River" by marshaling capital, technology and labor to industrialize the country at breakneck speed.
From Salon • Dec. 31, 2024
“If it goes through, it opens the door to all the other facilities that are trying to come in and would industrialize our rural community.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2024
In addition to the collectivization of farms, the Five-Year Plans also aimed to industrialize the USSR.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
