COLONIZE


Meaning of COLONIZE in English

(~s, colonizing, ~d)

Note: in BRIT, also use 'colonise'

1.

If people ~ a foreign country, they go to live there and take control of it.

The first British attempt to ~ Ireland was in the twelfth century...

For more than 400 years, we were a ~d people.

VERB: V n, V-ed

2.

When large numbers of animals ~ a place, they go to live there and make it their home.

Toads are colonising the whole place.

VERB: V n

3.

When an area is ~d by a type of plant, the plant grows there in large amounts.

The area was then ~d by scrub.

VERB: usu passive, be V-ed by n

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .