to symbolize
- verb
- /ˈsɪmbəˌlaɪz/
- US
- The language is full of his symbols, and they symbolize things that have no name.
- come to symbolize
- symbolize victory
- symbolize life
We have a little butterfly for change and a cowboy boot to symbolize my next steps.
- We have a little butterfly for change and a cowboy boot to symbolize my next steps.
- And then as you go towards red, yellow and white, that symbolizes higher temperature.
- You know, it symbolizes an anti-gay movement.
- All right, Scooter, you symbolize childlike discovery, right?
- You should be able to defend yourself, and guns symbolize that.
- So I'm going to put like a shadow right here to symbolize the bump.
- This vaccine symbolizes so much more than the end of the pandemic.
- And any sheep that want to break out of that, then they're sorted out with the sheepdog, which symbolises fear.
- She was the rock on which modern Britain was built and she symbolised the post war values on which this organization was founded.
- And it's not just the owl that symbolizes wisdom, but that wisdom itself is something that's available to you if you lean into it.
- Ours is to symbolize and know which is wrong and right.
- So you grab the Red Hat, you put it on and the Red Hat is symbolize heart is emotions.
- And I think that's what that symbolized.
Examples
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In literature, a red rose can symbolize love and passion.
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Their constant presence even earned them a spot in the Chinese Zodiac, where they symbolize new beginnings.
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It's strange to me that something so harmless as a jacket... could symbolize such a great lie.
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And then as you go towards red, yellow and white, that symbolizes higher temperature.
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Or it symbolizes the fighting on the Western Front more than I guess any other battle.
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We have a little butterfly for change and a cowboy boot to symbolize my next steps.
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To think about the world, we must first symbolize our raw impressions of it.
Academic text (1990) -
This vaccine symbolizes so much more than the end of the pandemic.
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In this reading, the Ranger symbolizes a leader very much like MacArthur.
Academic text (2013) -
It symbolizes the country's unified effort.
Synonyms
To show ideas and feelings by words or actions
Be a symbol of something, for example a dove for peace
To represent something by a sign or short name
Show an idea, quality or feeling in a clear visible way
To be a sign of something, often by a word, action or symbol
To be a sign or symbol of something
To describe an idea or thing as if it were a human
To stand for an idea using a picture or sign
To show an idea using a symbol or picture
How Symbolic
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word symbolize comes from the simple word symbol, which originally meant a 'sign' or 'mark' that shows something else. So, to symbolize is to 'stand for' or represent an idea, like a dove that symbolizes peace.