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

Chaebols expanded rapidly with government support as South Korea industrialized in the decades after the Korean War. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Oct. 2026

The twentieth century industrialized advisory through hordes of ambitious young graduates and an apprenticeship model that allowed advice to be sold by those with much less viabexperience. — Albert Mikkelsen, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Back then, the town was a rural, rapidly industrializing fringe of Hangzhou with a largely undeveloped archaeological site that featured Neolithic tombs and settlements buried deep beneath farmland. — Afra Wang, New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2026

Social platforms have industrialized this process by providing constant signals about how others respond to us. — Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for industrialize

• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise
• apologize
• capitalize
• categorize
• characterize
• commercialize
• conceptualize
• contrariwise
• criminalize
• decentralize

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