privatize

[ prahy-vuh-tahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, pri·va·tized, pri·va·tiz·ing.

1. to transfer from public or government control or ownership to private enterprise:

   a campaign promise to privatize some of the public lands.

2. to make exclusive; delimit or appropriate:

   special-interest groups attempting to privatize social issues.

privatize

/ ˈpraɪvɪˌtaɪz /

verb

1. tr to transfer (the production of goods or services) from the public sector of an economy into private ownership and operation

Derived Forms

• ˌprivatiˈzation, noun

Other Words From

• priva·ti·zation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of privatize¹

First recorded in 1945–50; private + -ize

Example Sentences

Prime minister Abiy Ahmed’s plans to privatize the telecommunications industry have been a stop-start process since he first announced in 2018 that he would be inviting in competitors.

From Quartz

You only have to look at what Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, New Hampshire, Kansas and some other states are now doing to see that her agenda to privatize public education is alive and thriving.

From Washington Post

In 2013, she co-founded an advocacy group called the Network for Public Education, a coalition of organizations that oppose privatizing public education and high-stakes standardized testing.

From Washington Post

Gore wanted to privatize more of those services, which could have meant job losses at the county.

From Voice of San Diego

From 2008 to 2017, the Gianforte Family Foundation donated a total of $19,000 to the Heritage Foundation, which supports privatizing public land and works to spread climate-change denial.

From Outside Online

This runs in stark contrast to the temptation to privatize every resource and turn it into a profitable market.

From The Daily Beast

“Privatize” rabbinic courts:  “denude” them of legal powers and government budgets.

From The Daily Beast

All you have to do is sign the Ryan budget into law and privatize Medicare.

From The Daily Beast

Forget about the Second Amendment—the gun lobby, abetted by timorous Republicans, is trying to privatize law and order.

From The Daily Beast

George W. Bush claimed a mandate after 2004, and then promptly saw Democrats decimate his proposal to privatize Social Security.

From The Daily Beast