stabilize

[ stey-buh-lahyz ]
See synonyms for: stabilizestabilizedstabilizing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),sta·bi·lized, sta·bi·liz·ing.
  1. to make or hold stable, firm, or steadfast.

  2. to maintain at a given or unfluctuating level or quantity: The government will try to stabilize the cost of living.

  1. Aeronautics. to put or keep (an aircraft) in stable equilibrium, as by some special device.

verb (used without object),sta·bi·lized, sta·bi·liz·ing.
  1. to become stabilized.

Origin of stabilize

1
1860–65; stabile + -ize; compare French stabiliser
  • Also especially British, sta·bi·lise .

Other words from stabilize

  • re·sta·bi·lize, verb (used with object), re·sta·bi·lized, re·sta·bi·liz·ing.
  • self-sta·bi·lized, adjective
  • self-sta·bi·liz·ing, adjective
  • un·sta·bi·lized, adjective
  • un·sta·bi·liz·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use stabilize in a sentence

  • He wants an unlimited growth of the productive forces, and at the same time a rate of surplus value stabilised by an act of law.

  • But with blood cooled and nerves stabilised by youth spent on the edge of the grey sea, she could outface all foreign seasons.

    The Judge | Rebecca West
  • And the embattled hosts swept onward toward Amiens, where at last the onrush was stabilised.

    The Challenge of the Dead | Stephen Graham

British Dictionary definitions for stabilize

stabilize

stabilise

/ (ˈsteɪbɪˌlaɪz) /


verb
  1. to make or become stable or more stable

  2. to keep or be kept stable

  1. to put or keep (an aircraft, vessel, etc) in equilibrium by one or more special devices, or (of an aircraft, vessel, etc) to become stable

Derived forms of stabilize

  • stabilization or stabilisation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012