as in to inhabit
to supply with inhabitants believes that someday humans will be sent to colonize Mars

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of colonize Greenland, which became self-governed in 2009, was colonized by Denmark some 300 years ago and still controls Greenland’s foreign and defense policies. Antonio Pequeño Iv, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025 One expendable named Mickey (Robert Pattinson) is part of a mission to colonize a distant planet, under the authority of a sleazily predatory and demagogic politician, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo). Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2025 Mark Ruffalo’s Kenneth Marshall character, a flamboyant and flailing politician leading the sci-fi film’s space expedition toward colonizing an ice planet, has distinctly Trumpian qualities in the way his thin skin manifests itself. Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 6 Mar. 2025 Starting four years into the mission to colonize another planet, the film opens on Niflheim, where Mickey 17 is left for dead in an icy cavern, abandoned by Timo (Steven Yeun), the same pal who got him into this fix in the first place. Peter Debruge, Variety, 15 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for colonize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonize
Verb
  • As the Zoroastrian belief goes, corpses are immediately inhabited by Nasu, the demon of decay, at the moment of death.
    Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025
  • Learn about the area’s history from the Native Americans who inhabited the region thousands of years ago to the development of Gemini Springs Park and more.
    Joe Rassel, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The process used to determine the tariffs came under scrutiny last week after they were applied to uninhabited Antarctic islands populated by penguins and other tiny, remote places.
    Douglas Gillison, Ted Hesson, USA Today, 6 Apr. 2025
  • Nico Gonzalez and Manuel Ugarte will be the young pups in midfields largely populated by players in their thirties.
    Carl Anka, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • By Meaghan Garvey February 13, 2025 Image by Chris Panicker, photo by Chris Weeks/WireImage Know that all of Nature is but a magic theater, that the great Mother is the master magician, and that this whole world is peopled by her many parts.
    Meaghan Garvey, Pitchfork, 13 Feb. 2025
  • Indeed, Gabet was moved to learn from his one of his curators that the artisans who created 17th-century tapestries meticulously tweaked weaving techniques to demarcate the various fabrics worn by those peopling the vast scenes.
    Miles Socha, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019

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“Colonize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonize. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

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