generalize
verb
gen·er·al·ize
ˈjen-rə-ˌlīz 
ˈje-nə-
ˈje-nə-
generalized; generalizing
1
: to give a general form to
2
a
: to derive or induce (a general conception or principle) from particulars
b
: to draw a general conclusion from
3
: to give general applicability to
generalize a law
also
: to make indefinite
1
: to form generalizations
also
: to make vague or indefinite statements
She's always generalizing about men.
2
: to spread or extend throughout the body
generalizer
noun
Examples of generalize in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The characters are too particular on the one hand, and the mean girls trope too familiar on the other, to usefully generalize into a statement about the plight of teenage girls.
—
Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
This is when the network basically begins memorizing its training data and often won’t generalize to new, unseen information.
—Anil Ananthaswamy, Quanta Magazine, 12 Apr. 2024
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Introduction
Shortly before his death, Schramm conjectured that Grimmett and Marstrand’s theorem could be generalized.
—Quanta Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023
Her nastiness and bitterness in negatively characterizing and generalizing such a large percentage of our population only makes some of them want to strike back.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 18 Jan. 2024
The researchers found that even when trained on only 27 hours of walking data, the AI can help a robot generalize to a real world environment.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2024
The authors also generalized that same technique to improve the multiplication process for rectangular (n-by-m) matrices — a procedure that has applications in graph theory, machine learning and other areas.
—Quanta Magazine, 7 Mar. 2024
Hasty generalization – someone jumps to a conclusion or generalizes without thinking through or doing the research.
—Christine Comaford, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024
The researchers could generalize this beyond their study sites in Alaska, showing that boreal trees growing elsewhere around the Arctic—birch, pine, larch, and other kinds of spruce—are moving northward where nearby sea ice is declining.
—Matt Simon, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024
Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
This is when the network basically begins memorizing its training data and often won’t generalize to new, unseen information.
—Anil Ananthaswamy, Quanta Magazine, 12 Apr. 2024
Share this article Newsletter Get Quanta Magazine delivered to your inbox
Introduction
Shortly before his death, Schramm conjectured that Grimmett and Marstrand’s theorem could be generalized.
—Quanta Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023
Her nastiness and bitterness in negatively characterizing and generalizing such a large percentage of our population only makes some of them want to strike back.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 18 Jan. 2024
The researchers found that even when trained on only 27 hours of walking data, the AI can help a robot generalize to a real world environment.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2024
The authors also generalized that same technique to improve the multiplication process for rectangular (n-by-m) matrices — a procedure that has applications in graph theory, machine learning and other areas.
—Quanta Magazine, 7 Mar. 2024
Hasty generalization – someone jumps to a conclusion or generalizes without thinking through or doing the research.
—Christine Comaford, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024
The researchers could generalize this beyond their study sites in Alaska, showing that boreal trees growing elsewhere around the Arctic—birch, pine, larch, and other kinds of spruce—are moving northward where nearby sea ice is declining.
—Matt Simon, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'generalize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near generalize
Cite this Entry
“Generalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/generalize. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
generalize
verb
gen·er·al·ize
ˈjen-(ə-)rə-ˌlīz
generalized; generalizing
: to put in the form of a general rule : draw or state a general conclusion from a number of items or instances
Medical Definition
generalize
intransitive verb
gen·er·al·ize
variants
or British generalise
generalized or British generalised; generalizing or British generalising
: to spread or extend through all of a body part or region or through most of the entire body
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