as in to inhabit
to supply with inhabitants
believes that someday humans will be sent to colonize Mars
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Recent Examples of colonize
To find out whether bacteria would still collect PFAS chemicals inside a larger organism, the team used mice raised to lack a microbiome of their own and colonized the animals’ gut with several human microbiome bacteria that were shown to absorb PFAS.
—
Nora Bradford, Scientific American, 4 July 2025
Worse, Luther manages to uncover a video of Superman’s biological parents, urging their son to colonize Earth and spread the seed of the Kryptonians.
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
The site is part of the Sho-Pai’s homelands, an area from which their ancestors were forcibly removed over a century ago when Europeans colonized the West and corralled them into the remote Duck Valley Reservation on the Idaho-Nevada border.
—Angela Palermo, Idaho Statesman, 13 June 2025
The influence of French baguettes dates back to the early 20th century, when France colonized Vietnam, and the banh mi sandwiches have since become a staple in the country, according to the company’s website.
—Kat Tran, Sacbee.com, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for colonize
Nora Bradford, Scientific American, 4 July 2025
Worse, Luther manages to uncover a video of Superman’s biological parents, urging their son to colonize Earth and spread the seed of the Kryptonians.
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
The site is part of the Sho-Pai’s homelands, an area from which their ancestors were forcibly removed over a century ago when Europeans colonized the West and corralled them into the remote Duck Valley Reservation on the Idaho-Nevada border.
—Angela Palermo, Idaho Statesman, 13 June 2025
The influence of French baguettes dates back to the early 20th century, when France colonized Vietnam, and the banh mi sandwiches have since become a staple in the country, according to the company’s website.
—Kat Tran, Sacbee.com, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for colonize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonize
Verb
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Shine, the beloved and respected editor and publisher of the Detroit Free Press, died in 2007, leaving behind a legacy of cooperation and unity as a booster of Detroit, the metro area and the people who inhabit it.—
Georgea Kovanis,
Freep.com,
10 Aug. 2025
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The spaces — in Brookfield, Cudahy, Glendale, Greendale, Waukesha and West Allis — are all high-profile shopping venues, most previously inhabited by brand-name retailers and some of which have now stepped into the retail afterlife.—
Jim Riccioli,
jsonline.com,
9 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Dynamic form generation can then populate the latest versions of visa petitions, reducing human error.—
Haokun Qin,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
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In the past, the private equity world has been largely populated by ultra-rich investors, endowments and pension funds.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Sure, your team is still peopled with the same flawed human beings, still maddeningly inconsistent and impossible to predict.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
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Louis is the kind of polarizing character who people either really loved or loved to hate.—
Max Gao,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Colonize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonize. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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