conglomerate

1 of 3

adjective

con·​glom·​er·​ate kən-ˈgläm-rət How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
-ˈglä-mə-
: made up of parts from various sources or of various kinds
the conglomerate peoples of New England
a conglomerate empire

conglomerate

2 of 3

verb

con·​glom·​er·​ate kən-ˈglä-mə-ˌrāt How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
conglomerated; conglomerating

intransitive verb

: to gather into a mass or coherent whole
Infinite numbers of dull people conglomerated round her …Virginia Woolf
conglomerative
kən-ˈgläm-rə-tiv How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
-ˈglä-mə-;
-mə-ˌrā-
adjective
conglomerator noun

conglomerate

3 of 3

noun

con·​glom·​er·​ate kən-ˈgläm-rət How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
-ˈglä-mə-
1
: a composite mass or mixture
especially : rock composed of rounded fragments varying from small pebbles to large boulders in a cement (as of hardened clay)
2
: a widely diversified corporation
an international conglomerate of some 350 businesses
conglomeratic adjective

Examples of conglomerate in a Sentence

Verb people conglomerated in the downtown streets for an impromptu victory celebration over the years the town's discarded junk conglomerated at the bottom of the river Noun a news and entertainment conglomerate Our small company must compete with the big conglomerates.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
As its rivals increasingly conglomerate to exert pressure against it, the West is often forced to ignore the flaws of its allies. Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024 In September Curiosity found an outcrop of conglomerate rock, pebbles and gravel bound together by wet sediment. Discover Magazine, 11 Dec. 2012 Shares of Honeywell International gained 3.3% after the conglomerate housing aerospace, materials and other businesses raised its full-year profit forecast. Caitlin Ostroff, WSJ, 27 Oct. 2022 More striking is conglomerate Danaher (DHR), whose commons yield a paltry 0.4% while its Series B Preferreds dole out a cool 5%. Brett Owens, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022 Record first-quarter earnings of $200 million at engineering conglomerate DMCI Holdings lifted the fortune of Isidro Consunji and siblings by 47% to $2.65 billion. Forbes Press Releases, Forbes, 11 Aug. 2022 Incidentally, the name in question—conglomerate Wanda—is still fresh from cutting its stadium rights relationship with modern-day La Liga giant Atlético Madrid. Henry Flynn, Forbes, 16 July 2022 The need is especially acute in the southern German states, home to industrial giants like BASF chemicals, the automaker Daimler and the conglomerate Siemens. New York Times, 28 Dec. 2021 The major contention behind UMG NA’s spin was allowing it to be valued as per its potential which was lost in the conglomerate nature of VIV FP’s operational structure. Jim Osman, Forbes, 12 Oct. 2021
Verb
Ultimately, giant conglomerates Apple, Google and Amazon entered the streaming space and, alongside Spotify, swallowed up market share, edging TIDAL increasingly toward the margins. Dan Rys, Billboard, 8 Dec. 2023 The pair’s first extravehicular activity—as astronauts call such trips outside their spacecraft—turned up mostly breccias, conglomerate rocks created by the meteorite impacts that actually formed most lunar mountains. Mike Bezemek, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 June 2023 Or will conglomerate Waystar fall into new, foreign hands, leaving billions in the Roy family’s pockets but no control? Sofia Lotto Persio, Quartz, 26 May 2023 Headquarters for conglomerate Alibaba and tech giant Netease are based in the city, where millionaire residents grew 105 percent over the last decade to 30,400. Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 19 Apr. 2023 While the Franks sold the winery to conglomerate Treasury Wine Estates for $315 million in 2021, the couple is still very much involved with the business. Jess Lander, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Mar. 2023 More than 25 years after selling her first and eponymous cosmetics brand to conglomerate Estée Lauder, Brown is charting a new path in beauty, amid endless TikTok rabbit holes and celebrity brand launches. Tiffany Dodson, Harper's BAZAAR, 15 Feb. 2023 Protests raged in New Delhi and other cities against Gautam Adani, the CEO of commodities conglomerate the Adani Group and one of the richest people in the world. Justin Klawans, The Week, 6 Feb. 2023 Cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group, whose move to Connecticut in late 2021 was hailed by the Lamont administration, has closed down one of its subsidiaries while another of its companies filed for bankruptcy. Erica E. Phillips, Hartford Courant, 1 Feb. 2023
Noun
One big number: $2 billion Stake that a major Anheuser-Busch InBev shareholder, the tobacco conglomerate Altria, is selling Altria holds about a 10% stake of the brewing company — or 197 million shares — and plans to offload 18% of that. Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024 Nvidia, the world’s leading maker of chips powering artificial intelligence, is teaming up with the country’s utilities conglomerate to develop a $4.3 billion artificial intelligence cloud and supercomputer center. Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 Disney’s Brave introduced Merida, a fiery archer who brought a more overt contemporary feminism to the entertainment conglomerate’s brand. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2024 The German pharma conglomerate, long under pressure to separate its drug and agricultural businesses, said yesterday that the answer to its financial problems is not a sweeping change to its structure. Damian Garde, STAT, 6 Mar. 2024 Sometimes that chatter comes from sources that don't meet the conglomerate's voluminous standards, which, in theory, ensure posts are based on credible information. Darius Tahir, CBS News, 5 Mar. 2024 The stock exchange is pushing the country’s sprawling conglomerates, known as keiretsu, to streamline their organizational structure. Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 4 Mar. 2024 Golden Energy is part of the Sinar Mas Group, an Indonesian conglomerate founded by the late Eka Tjipta Widjaja. Yessar Rosendar, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Explore our new section In a sign of the troubles besetting the industry, one large almond-growing conglomerate has declared bankruptcy. Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conglomerate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Latin conglomeratus, past participle of conglomerare to roll together, from com- + glomerare to wind into a ball, from glomer-, glomus ball — more at clam

First Known Use

Adjective

1572, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1642, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun

1818, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of conglomerate was in 1572

Dictionary Entries Near conglomerate

Cite this Entry

“Conglomerate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conglomerate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

conglomerate

1 of 3 adjective
con·​glom·​er·​ate kən-ˈgläm-(ə-)rət How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
: made up of parts from various sources or of various kinds

conglomerate

2 of 3 verb
con·​glom·​er·​ate kən-ˈgläm-ə-ˌrāt How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
conglomerated; conglomerating
: to collect or form into a mass
conglomeration
-ˌgläm-ə-ˈrā-shən
kän-
noun

conglomerate

3 of 3 noun
con·​glom·​er·​ate kən-ˈgläm-(ə-)rət How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
1
: a composite mass or mixture
especially : rock made up of rounded pieces varying from small pebbles to large boulders in a cement (as of hardened clay)
2
: a corporation engaging in many different kinds of business

Medical Definition

conglomerate

1 of 3 adjective
con·​glom·​er·​ate kən-ˈgläm-(ə-)rət How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
: made up of parts from various sources or of various kinds

conglomerate

2 of 3 verb
con·​glom·​er·​ate -ə-ˌrāt How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
conglomerated; conglomerating

transitive verb

: to gather (something) into a mass or coherent whole

intransitive verb

: to gather into a mass or coherent whole
conglomerative adjective

conglomerate

3 of 3 noun
con·​glom·​er·​ate -(ə-)rət How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
: a composite mass or mixture

Legal Definition

conglomerate

noun
con·​glom·​er·​ate kən-ˈglä-mə-rət How to pronounce conglomerate (audio)
: a widely diversified company
especially : a corporation that acquires other companies whose activities are unrelated to the corporation's primary activity

More from Merriam-Webster on conglomerate

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