synthesize

play

verb syn·the·size \ -ˌsīz \

Definition of synthesize

synthesized; synthesizing

transitive verb

1 :to combine or produce by synthesis

2 :to make a synthesis of

3 :to produce (something, such as music) by an electronic synthesizer

intransitive verb

:to make a synthesis

See synthesize defined for English-language learners

See synthesize defined for kids

Examples of synthesize in a Sentence

She synthesized the treatment from traditional and modern philosophies of medicine.
He synthesized old and new ideas to form his theory.
Amino acid is synthesized in the body.

Recent Examples of synthesize from the Web

On the good side, there's the complications of translating computer instructions into DNA that can be synthesized and sequenced.

— john timmer, Ars Technica, "Researchers encode malware in DNA, compromise DNA sequencing software," 12 Aug. 2017
Bayer applied for a German patent but was rejected, as acetylsalicylic acid had been synthesized earlier, first by a French chemist and later by a German chemist.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "Aspirin’s Four-Thousand-Year History," 10 Aug. 2017
Synthesized by chemist Paul Janssen in 1960, the drug is a potent opioid, about 100 times stronger than morphine, used for general anesthesia and pain relief.

— harrison smith, Washington Post, "Ted Stanley, whose fentanyl lollipop alleviates cancer patients’ pain, dies at 77," 7 Aug. 2017
Machine learning programs synthesize knowledge in a way that’s analogous to how children learn.

— sam wood, Philly.com, "Google chief funds new machine learning effort at Princeton's IAS," 4 Aug. 2017
The amino acids would then be synthesized into neurotransmitters.

— carrie wells, baltimoresun.com, "University of Maryland scientists research gene linked to depression," 29 July 2017
A cancer-killing shot In the first trial, led by Dr. Catherine Wu of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, researchers synthesized cocktails of long peptides that represented up to 20 neoantigens specific to each patients’ tumors.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "Custom cancer vaccines safely fight and kill tumors in early human trials," 6 July 2017
As prominent tech stocks plunged, getting FANGed became a front-page verb — synthesizing simultaneous swoons from Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google.

— ken fisher, USA TODAY, "How to buy stocks for the rest of Trump's 1st year in office," 25 June 2017
Silicones are synthesized in factories and are made by combining silicon (an element found in sand) with oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and sometimes other materials.

— deena campbell, SELF, "Why So Many Curly Girls Insist on Silicone-Free Hair Products," 22 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'synthesize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Synthesize is a very common word in chemistry, since chemists are constantly synthesizing new compounds—that is, synthetic compounds—including drugs and industrial chemicals. It's also often used when talking about writing; nonfiction writers must often synthesize large amounts of material from many sources to produce a book—which represents a synthesis of the important materials. An electronic synthesizercreates new sounds (which may imitate the sounds of acoustic instruments) by generating different basic tones and then manipulating and merging them together with others.