privatize

verb

pri·​vat·​ize ˈprī-və-ˌtīz 

privatized; privatizing; privatizes

transitive verb

: 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

privatization

ˌprī-və-tə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

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

That’s because electricity, like every other commodity in this new New York, is privatized, under the control of a company called Tensor. — Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026

This administration’s push to privatize the TSA threatens to bring back those problems. — Hydrick Thomas, New York Daily News, 11 Sep. 2026

The cases of Tesla and Solyndra highlight how, by not recognizing its role as a public venture capitalist, the state often ends up socializing risks while privatizing rewards. — Mariana Mazzucato, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026

After failing to secure a site in San Francisco, Lucas faced public opposition and a lawsuit in Chicago, with nonprofit Friends of the Parks arguing that his lakefront proposal would essentially privatize public land. — Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for privatize

• advertise
• aggrandize
• alibis
• alkalies
• alkalis
• amortize
• amplifies
• analyse
• analyze
• anywise
• authorize
• butterflies

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

privatization

ˌprī-və-tə-ˈzā-shən, -ˌtī- 

noun