Definition

1. Verb:

   • To direct or focus one's attention or mental effort on a particular object or activity: To bring all of one's thoughts, energy, or resources to bear on a single point or task.
   • To bring together or gather in one place: To cause people or things to come together in a central or specific location.
   • To make a substance stronger or denser by removing other parts, especially water: To increase the strength or purity of a substance by reducing its volume, often through evaporation or extraction.

2. Noun:

   • A substance that has been made stronger or denser by the removal of other components: A product resulting from the concentration process, such as a thick liquid or powder containing the essential elements of a food or ore.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • You need to concentrate if you want to solve this difficult puzzle. (Focus your mental effort.)
  • The company decided to concentrate its manufacturing operations in a single factory. (Bring together in one place.)
  • To make the soup base, you must concentrate the broth by simmering it for hours. (Make denser by removing liquid.)

• Noun:

  • I prefer to buy frozen orange concentrate and mix it with water. (A dense form of a foodstuff.)
  • The mining process yields a copper concentrate that is then shipped for refining. (The desired mineral left after impurities are removed.)

Advanced Usage

• "to concentrate on/upon something": To focus one's attention or efforts specifically on a particular subject or task.

  • She is concentrating on her studies to prepare for the final exams.

• "to concentrate the mind": To cause someone to think very seriously about something, often because of a pressing concern.

  • The approaching deadline really concentrated his mind.

Variants and Related Words

• Concentration (n): The action or power of focusing one's attention or mental effort; the process of making a substance denser.

  • This game requires great concentration.
  • The concentration of salt in the water is very high.

• Concentrated (adj): Intensely focused; having been made stronger or denser.

  • She gave him a concentrated look. (Intensely focused)
  • Be careful with that concentrated cleaning solution. (Made stronger)

Synonyms

• Focus: To direct attention or effort toward a central point.
• Condense: To make something more compact or dense.
• Centralize: To bring under a single, central control or location.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Concentrate on/upon: To give most of your attention to one thing. (This is the primary and most common phrasal construction for the verb.)
  • You must concentrate on the road while driving.

Related Idioms

• Concentrate one's efforts: To focus all of one's work or energy on a specific goal.
  • We should concentrate our efforts on finishing the project this week.

Noun

1. a concentrated example of something
   • the concentrate of contemporary despair
2. a concentrated form of a foodstuff; the bulk is reduced by removing water
3. the desired mineral that is left after impurities have been removed from mined ore

Verb

1. cook until very little liquid is left
   • The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time
2. be cooked until very little liquid is left
   • The sauce should reduce to one cup
3. compress or concentrate
   • Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan
4. draw together or meet in one common center
   • These groups concentrate in the inner cities
5. make more concise
   • condense the contents of a book into a summary
6. make central
   • The Russian government centralized the distribution of food
7. direct one's attention on something
   • Please focus on your studies and not on your hobbies
8. make denser, stronger, or purer
   • concentrate juice