Definition

1. Verb:
   • To make mechanical or automatic: To introduce machinery or automation into a process, replacing human labor or manual operation.
   • To make monotonous or routine: To cause an activity to become repetitive, automatic, and lacking in creativity or thought.
   • To equip with motorized vehicles: To supply military forces with armored and armed motor vehicles, such as tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Usage and Examples

• Verb:
  • The factory decided to mechanize its assembly line to increase production speed.
  • We must not let our daily tasks mechanize our thinking; we should always seek creative solutions.
  • During World War II, many armies sought to mechanize their infantry divisions.

Advanced Usage

• "To become mechanized": Describes a process or system that has been converted to operate by machinery or has become overly routine.
  • The entire manufacturing process has become mechanized, requiring very few human operators.
• In a figurative sense: Used to criticize a loss of human touch, creativity, or spontaneity.
  • His responses were so mechanized that it felt like talking to a robot.

Variants and Related Words

• Mechanization (n): The process of making something mechanical or automatic.
  • The mechanization of agriculture transformed rural economies.
• Mechanized (adj): Equipped with machinery or made automatic.
  • A mechanized infantry unit.
• Mechanic (n): A skilled worker who repairs machinery. (Note: This is a related profession, not a direct variant of the verb 'mechanize').
• Mechanical (adj): Operated by or relating to machinery; done without thought or spontaneity.
  • A mechanical process; a mechanical response.

Synonyms

• Automate: To make a process operate automatically using technology.
• Motorize: To equip with a motor or motors (often used for vehicles, similar to the military sense of 'mechanize').
• Industrialize: To develop industries in a country or region on a wide scale (a broader, related concept).

Antonyms

• Manualize (rare): To perform or operate by hand. (More common antonyms are phrases).
• De-automate: To revert from an automatic to a manual process.
• Humanize: To make something more human or humane, often the opposite of making it mechanical in the figurative sense.

Related Phrases

• "Mechanized warfare": Warfare that relies heavily on armored fighting vehicles and motorized transport.
  • Blitzkrieg was a form of mechanized warfare.
• "Mechanized farming": Agriculture that uses machinery like tractors and harvesters.
  • Mechanized farming has greatly increased crop yields.

Verb

1. make mechanical
   • mechanize the procedure
2. make monotonous; make automatic or routine
   • If your work becomes too mechanized, change jobs!
3. equip with armed and armored motor vehicles
   • mechanize armies