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suburbanize

American  
[suh-bur-buh-nahyz] / səˈbɜr bəˌnaɪz /
especially British, suburbanise

verb (used with object)

suburbanized, suburbanizing

  1. to give suburban characteristics to.

    to suburbanize a rural area.
suburbanize British  
/ sʌˈbɜːbəˌnaɪz /

verb

  1. (tr) to make suburban

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • suburbanization noun

Etymology

Origin of suburbanize

First recorded in 1890–95; suburban + -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.

Any final zoning changes are years away, and there are no immediate plans to suburbanize Avocado Heights and Pellissier Village.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2023

But these foundations are under stress because, as we urbanize and suburbanize natural areas, we have an unfortunate tendency to sterilize the landscape.

From Scientific American • Jan. 17, 2021

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.