merge
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to cause to combine or coalesce; unite.
- Synonyms:
- consolidate, amalgamate
-
to combine, blend, or unite gradually so as to blur the individuality or individual identity of.
They voted to merge the two branch offices into a single unit.
- Synonyms:
- consolidate, amalgamate
verb (used without object)
-
to become combined, united, swallowed up, or absorbed; lose identity by uniting or blending (often followed by in orinto ).
This stream merges into the river up ahead.
- Synonyms:
- consolidate, amalgamate
-
to combine or unite into a single enterprise, organization, body, etc..
The two firms merged last year.
verb
-
to meet and join or cause to meet and join
-
to blend or cause to blend; fuse
Other Word Forms
- antimerging adjective
- demerge verb (used with object)
- mergence noun
- remerge verb
- unmerge verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of merge
First recorded in 1630–40, merge is from the Latin word mergere to dip, immerse, plunge into water
Explanation
The verb merge means to seamlessly join something. For example, when you merge onto the highway, you need to smoothly join the traffic, forgetting everything you learned riding the bumper cars at the fair. If two or more things become one, they merge. If your favorite deli, The Cheese Stop, merges with a sandwich shop called Chez Lui, the two restaurants might also merge their names, becoming Chez Cheese. You can also use merge when things only appear to blend. You know it's time to go to sleep when the words in your book begin to merge together.
Vocabulary lists containing merge
"Names/Nombres" by Julia Alvarez
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Business, List 3
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Ghost Boys
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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.
For LNPs to work inside the body, they must merge with cell membranes and release their cargo.
From Science Daily • Apr. 20, 2026
He eventually encountered a white Cadillac slowly attempting to merge into a single lane of traffic.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
As more studios merge, including the upcoming deal between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
Unilever announced a $44.8 billion deal with McCormick to merge food operations...
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
It might be gebbeth still, clothed in Skiorh's death, or it might be hidden in the gathering darkness, waiting to seize him and merge its shapelessness with his living flesh.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.
