privatize
verb
pri·vat·ize
ˈprī-və-ˌtīz 
privatized; privatizing; privatizes
: to make private
especially
: to change from public to private control or ownership
privatize an industry
The mayor's threat to privatize trash collection shook things up. —
Jeff Bailey
Jeff Bailey Examples of privatize in a Sentence
The city decided to privatize the municipal power company.
a proposal to privatize the health-care system
Recent Examples on the Web
Pinochet’s Chile, for instance, both privatized the pension system and disappeared people by dropping their bodies out of helicopters into the ocean.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 2 May 2025
Several experts also voiced concern saying privatizing weather forecasting would favor large urban areas, and leave sparsely populated rural communities without adequate forecasting needed for public safety.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2025
Project 2025 lays it out for us, envisioning the federal government getting heavily involved in accreditation—thus giving the government another way to bully schools—and privatizing many student loans.
—Ars Staff, ArsTechnica, 17 Apr. 2025
Moreover, continuing to promote the use of school vouchers may ultimately aid efforts to completely privatize our public education system.
—Dhruvak Mirani, Baltimore Sun, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for privatize
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Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 2 May 2025
Several experts also voiced concern saying privatizing weather forecasting would favor large urban areas, and leave sparsely populated rural communities without adequate forecasting needed for public safety.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2025
Project 2025 lays it out for us, envisioning the federal government getting heavily involved in accreditation—thus giving the government another way to bully schools—and privatizing many student loans.
—Ars Staff, ArsTechnica, 17 Apr. 2025
Moreover, continuing to promote the use of school vouchers may ultimately aid efforts to completely privatize our public education system.
—Dhruvak Mirani, Baltimore Sun, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for privatize
Cite this Entry
“Privatize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privatize. Accessed 12 May. 2025.
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privatize
transitive verb
pri·va·tize
ˈprī-və-ˌtīz
privatized; privatizing
: to make private
especially
: to change (as a business or industry) from public to private control or ownership
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