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
Now the teacher's unions have abandoned standards, making all their arguments against privatizing education moot.
richard_b
10m
Edited
And the Democrats never seem to pay a price for all of this.
—Jeff Eager, National Review, 2 Nov. 2023
In recent years, as other communes in Israel were privatizing land or declaring bankruptcy, Be’eri had twelve hundred members and a long wait list of young couples desperate to move in.
—Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2023
That comment seemed to confirm that Thiel was in favor of privatizing the NHS, according to Eerke Boiten, professor of cybersecurity at De Montfort University.
—WIRED, 21 Sep. 2023
Instead, one of the members berated Beckley for moving ahead with privatizing even though the position of town planner had been vacant since March.
—Daniel Golden, ProPublica, 14 Oct. 2023
However, there are several beaches in Puerto Rico that, for all practical purposes, businesses have privatized, contrary to the archipelago’s law that all beaches are public spaces.
—Camille Padilla Dalmau and Frances Medina, refinery29.com, 4 Oct. 2023
Just below, a small spa includes a wellness space, complete with a sauna and wading pool, that can be privatized for an hour.
—Vogue, 28 Sep. 2023
Founded in 1920 and nationalized in 1947, the carrier was slowly privatized in the 1990s, and only 51 percent of shares in it must be held by Australians, while the rest may be held by offshore investors.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 23 Sep. 2023
Ever since German colonialization, the arable land the Herero used to graze cattle has been privatized.
—Melanie Stetson Freeman, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Sep. 2023
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Jeff Eager, National Review, 2 Nov. 2023
In recent years, as other communes in Israel were privatizing land or declaring bankruptcy, Be’eri had twelve hundred members and a long wait list of young couples desperate to move in.
—Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2023
That comment seemed to confirm that Thiel was in favor of privatizing the NHS, according to Eerke Boiten, professor of cybersecurity at De Montfort University.
—WIRED, 21 Sep. 2023
Instead, one of the members berated Beckley for moving ahead with privatizing even though the position of town planner had been vacant since March.
—Daniel Golden, ProPublica, 14 Oct. 2023
However, there are several beaches in Puerto Rico that, for all practical purposes, businesses have privatized, contrary to the archipelago’s law that all beaches are public spaces.
—Camille Padilla Dalmau and Frances Medina, refinery29.com, 4 Oct. 2023
Just below, a small spa includes a wellness space, complete with a sauna and wading pool, that can be privatized for an hour.
—Vogue, 28 Sep. 2023
Founded in 1920 and nationalized in 1947, the carrier was slowly privatized in the 1990s, and only 51 percent of shares in it must be held by Australians, while the rest may be held by offshore investors.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 23 Sep. 2023
Ever since German colonialization, the arable land the Herero used to graze cattle has been privatized.
—Melanie Stetson Freeman, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Sep. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'privatize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1948, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near privatize
Cite this Entry
“Privatize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privatize. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.
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Legal Definition
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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