industrialize

verb

in·​dus·​tri·​al·​ize in-ˈdə-strē-ə-ˌlīz 

industrialized; industrializing

transitive verb

: to make industrial

industrialize an agricultural region

intransitive verb

: to become industrial

Examples of industrialize in a Sentence

The government hopes to industrialize some of the agricultural regions.

Recent Examples on the Web

Increasingly integrated by Southern Black migrants toward the turn of the 20th century, the neighborhood rapidly industrialized into a hub of factories and slaughterhouses, and became known for the kind of living conditions that kept typhoid top of mind. —Erin Quinlan, Architectural Digest, 30 June 2025

At the same time, Trump’s Interior Department is aggressively pursuing ways to industrialize, privatize and monetize the public lands. —T. A. Barron, Denver Post, 26 June 2025

Access to market is a key pillar of Afreximbank’s efforts to industrialize the continent. —Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 18 June 2025

Both industrialized what had previously been cottage industries—in Ford’s case, the artisanal carriage trade; in Seabrook’s, market gardening. —John Seabrook june 11, Literary Hub, 11 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for industrialize

• contextualize
• materialise
• materialize
• memorialize
• microenterprise
• overemphasize
• particularize
• revolutionise
• revolutionize
• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise

Kids Definition

industrialize

verb

in·​dus·​tri·​al·​ize in-ˈdəs-trē-ə-ˌlīz 

industrialized; industrializing

: to make or become industrial

industrialize an agricultural region

industrialization

-ˌdəs-trē-ə-lə-ˈzā-shən 

noun