consolidate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb unite into one
    • The companies consolidated
  2. verb make firm or secure; strengthen
    • consolidate one's gains
    • consolidate one's hold on first place
  3. verb bring together into a single whole or system
    • The town and county schools are being consolidated
  4. verb form into a solid mass or whole
    • The mud had consolidated overnight
  5. verb make or form into a solid or hardened mass
    • consolidate fibers into boards

WordNet

Con*sol"i*date adjective
Etymology
L. consolidatus, p.pr. of consolidare to make firm; con- + solidare to make firm; solidus solid. See Solid, and cf. Consound.
Definitions
  1. Formed into a solid mass; made firm; consolidated. R.
    A gentleman [should learn to ride] while he is tender and the brawns and sinews of his thighs not fully consolidate. Elyot.
Con*sol"i*date transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Consolidated ; present participle & verbal noun Consolidating
Definitions
  1. To make solid; to unite or press together into a compact mass; to harden or make dense and firm.
    He fixed and consolidated the earth. T. Burnet.
  2. To unite, as various particulars, into one mass or body; to bring together in close union; to combine; as, to consolidate the armies of the republic.
    Consolidating numbers into unity. Wordsworth.
  3. (Surg.) To unite by means of applications, as the parts of a broken bone, or the lips of a wound. R. Syn. -- To unite; combine; harden; compact; condense; compress.
Con*sol"i*date intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To grow firm and hard; to unite and become solid; as, moist clay consolidates by drying.
    In hurts and ulcers of the head, dryness maketh them more apt to consolidate. Bacon.

Webster 1913