migrated; migrating; migrates
1
intransitive
: to move from one country, place, or locality to another
Thousands of workers migrate to this area in the summer.
In another Bavarian village, … 48 out of its total Jewish population of 225 migrated to America between 1834 and 1853, mostly to Cleveland.—
Jonathan D. Sarna
Jonathan D. Sarna… the Carolinas benefited when manufacturing migrated first from … England to the mill towns of New England and then to here, where labor was even cheaper …—Stephanie Clifford
Stephanie Clifford2
intransitive
: to pass usually periodically from one region or climate to another for feeding or breeding
The whales migrate between their feeding ground in the north and their breeding ground in the Caribbean.
… migrating birds making the long flight over Lake Erie from the United States to Canada drop to the nearest available ground after the crossing.—Kathryn K. Rushing
Kathryn K. Rushing3
transitive
: to relocate (information) from storage or operation on one computer or computer system to another
In this release we've made further improvements and changes, such as support to migrate files from the legacy model to the new … storage model, and better management of cached files.—Dave Burke
Dave BurkeWork-from-home mandates will most likely be experienced again, so companies are adding work-from-home technology to their business continuity planning. This includes accelerating considerations and plans to migrate applications and file servers to the cloud …—Steve Shoemake and Franzuha Byrd
Steve Shoemake and Franzuha Byrd4
intransitive
: to change position or location in an organism or substance
filarial worms migrate within the human body
migrator
ˈmī-ˌgrā-tər 
noun
mī-ˈgrā-
plural migrators
While … some birds that migrate at night take directional cues from polarized light at twilight, there has been little evidence that daytime migrators make direct use of the sun.
—Henry Fountain
Henry Fountain
mi·gra·tion
mī-ˈgrā-shən
: the act, process, or an instance of migrating
watched the migration of the birds overhead
Examples of migrate in a Sentence
Verb
He migrates from New York to Florida each winter.
Thousands of workers migrate to this area each summer.
The whales migrate between their feeding ground in the north and their breeding ground in the Caribbean.
They followed the migrating herds of buffalo across the plains.
Recent Examples on the Web
ABC News,
30 June 2026
Leaving it on too long can leave brows brittle or over-processed, and the skin around the brow bone can react if the formula migrates.
—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Sacbee.com,
30 June 2026
Andy J. Semotiuk,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2026
Humpback whales are known for roaming long distances across major oceans in predictable patterns, typically following migration routes learned from their mothers.
—
ABC News,
1 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for migrate
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Verb
By January, at least seven devices used at KK Park had migrated to a new compound some 30 kilometers to the northwest, near Hpakalu, according to International Justice Mission, which tracked the devices using ad tech data.
—
ABC News,
30 June 2026
Leaving it on too long can leave brows brittle or over-processed, and the skin around the brow bone can react if the formula migrates.
—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Sacbee.com,
30 June 2026
Noun
For generations, the annual migration south has been a Canadian ritual as dependable as the first snowfall.
—
Andy J. Semotiuk,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2026
Humpback whales are known for roaming long distances across major oceans in predictable patterns, typically following migration routes learned from their mothers.
—
ABC News,
1 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for migrate
Cite this Entry
“Migrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/migrate. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
migrate
verb
mi·grate
ˈmī-ˌgrāt
migrated; migrating
1
: to move from one country, place, or locality to another
2
: to pass from one region or climate to another usually on a regular schedule for feeding or breeding
3
: to change position or location in a living thing or substance
parasitic worms migrating from the lungs to the liver
Medical Definition
migrated; migrating
: to move from one place to another: as
a
: to move from one site to another in a host organism especially as part of a life cycle
filarial worms migrate within the human body
b
of an atom or group
: to shift position within a molecule
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