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
Viewed from certain perspectives—the perspective of history, the perspective of the roughly one quarter of the world that was once colonized by Britain—London is a metropolis built on crime.
—
Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
Some people's digestive systems don't accept new bacterial strains, so the bacteria can't take hold and colonize the gut microbiome.
—Amber J. Tresca, Verywell Health, 23 Apr. 2026
That conversation turned into a broader, more impassioned look into the singer’s environmental views, from battling corporate greed and his conversations with Jane Goodall to disagreements with Elon Musk on the need to colonize Mars.
—Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2026
The plant colonizes quickly to serve as a dense, weed-free ground cover in areas where invasiveness is not a concern.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 19 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for colonize
Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
Some people's digestive systems don't accept new bacterial strains, so the bacteria can't take hold and colonize the gut microbiome.
—Amber J. Tresca, Verywell Health, 23 Apr. 2026
That conversation turned into a broader, more impassioned look into the singer’s environmental views, from battling corporate greed and his conversations with Jane Goodall to disagreements with Elon Musk on the need to colonize Mars.
—Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2026
The plant colonizes quickly to serve as a dense, weed-free ground cover in areas where invasiveness is not a concern.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 19 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for colonize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonize
Verb
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Bendis also penned a story centered on Sulu after an encounter with George Takei, the actor who inhabited the character.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
19 May 2026
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Talagrand was interested in shapes inhabiting hundreds or billions of dimensions—or even more.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
19 May 2026
Verb
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Most of its riders live outside New York City in two counties populated by nearly 3 million people.—
Philip Marcelo,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
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And in fact, the players who populate the leader board of all-time single season homer runs is primarily concentrated in that era.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
17 May 2026
Verb
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Hypocrisy, not rail spindles or dog poop, is top of the play’s agenda, and to poke around that subject the playwright has peopled his work with a collection of character types.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
21 Apr. 2026
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The characters who people the novel rise to speak for themselves.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Colonize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonize. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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