REALISE


Meaning of REALISE in English

rea ‧ lize S1 W1 BrE AmE ( also realise British English ) /ˈrɪəlaɪz/ verb [transitive not usually in progressive]

[ Word Family: noun : ↑ realism , ↑ realist , ↑ reality , ↑ unreality , ↑ realization ; adverb : ↑ real , ↑ really , ↑ realistically ≠ ↑ unrealistically ; adjective : ↑ real , ↑ unreal , ↑ realistic ≠ ↑ unrealistic ; verb : ↑ realize ]

[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: French ; Origin: réaliser , from Old French real ; ⇨ ↑ real 1 ]

1 . UNDERSTAND to know and understand something, or suddenly begin to understand it

realize (that)

I suddenly realized that the boy was crying.

Do you realize you’re an hour late?

realize who/what/how etc

I’m sorry, I didn’t realize who you were.

It took us a while to realize the extent of the tragedy.

It was only later that I realized my mistake.

► Do not say that you ‘realize about/of something’. Say that you realize something .

2 . ACHIEVE formal to achieve something that you were hoping to achieve:

She never realized her ambition of winning an Olympic gold medal.

a young singer who has not yet realized her full potential (=achieved as much as she can achieve)

3 . sb’s worst fears were realized used to say that the thing that you were most afraid of has actually happened:

His worst fears were realized when he heard that Chris had been arrested.

4 . MONEY

a) formal to obtain or earn an amount of money:

The campaign realized $5000.

We realized a small profit on the sale of the house.

b) realize an asset technical to change something that you own into money by selling it

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ realize to begin to understand, notice, or know something that you did not understand etc before:

I hadn’t realized that Ben was his brother.

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She suddenly realized who the man in the photograph was.

▪ become aware to gradually realize that something is happening or is true, over a period of time:

He slowly became aware that he was not alone

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People are becoming more aware of the harmful effects of cars on the environment.

▪ dawn on somebody if something dawns on you, you realize it for the first time – often used in the phrase it dawned on somebody :

It dawned on me that he could be lying.

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It only dawned on her that she was in danger when she saw rescue workers running away from the building.

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He thought about the dream for a long time before its meaning began to dawn on him.

▪ sink in if something sinks in, you begin to realize its full meaning or importance, especially gradually:

It took a few minutes for the doctor’s words to sink in.

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The reality of what I had done slowly began to sink in.

▪ hit if a fact hits you, you suddenly understand it and how important it is:

It hit me one day that he didn’t care. He’d talk when I phoned him, but he’d never call me.

▪ strike if an idea or thought strikes you, you suddenly think of it:

It suddenly struck her what a risk she was taking.

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A thought has just struck me - there must be other people with the same problem.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.