Meaning & use
optimizing
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“optimizing” is a form of “optimize”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Making something work as well, efficiently or profitably as it possibly can by adjusting how it is set up or used.
Grammar: Takes an object: she is optimizing the checkout page.
Patterns
- optimizing something
- optimizing something for something
The team spent the week optimizing the website so pages load faster.
She is optimizing her study schedule around her most alert hours.
Optimizing a delivery route can save a company thousands in fuel.
verbtransitivetechnical
Changing a web page or its content so that search engines are more likely to rank it highly.
Grammar: Takes an object, often followed by for: optimizing a page for search.
Patterns
- optimizing something for search engines
We are optimizing every product description for search engines.
Optimizing images keeps the site quick and easier to find online.
He makes a living optimizing small business websites.
Word forms
| base form | optimize |
|---|---|
| third person singular | optimizes |
| past tense | optimized |
Common combinations
- optimizing performance
- The update focuses on optimizing performance on older phones.
- optimizing costs
- Optimizing costs became the manager's main goal this year.
- optimizing for mobile
- Optimizing for mobile has become essential for online shops.
- optimizing a process
- Optimizing a process often begins with measuring each step.
- constantly optimizing
- The engineers are constantly optimizing the algorithm.
Synonyms and how they differ
- improving
- Improving just means making better in any way, while optimizing suggests aiming for the best achievable result on a measurable goal.
- streamlining
- Streamlining stresses removing unnecessary steps, whereas optimizing can also mean fine-tuning settings or resources.
- maximizing
- Maximizing aims for the greatest amount of one thing, while optimizing balances several factors to find the best overall outcome.
- fine-tuning
- Fine-tuning describes small, careful adjustments, and is less formal and less goal-driven than optimizing.
Opposites
Word family
- optimize verb
- to make as effective as possible
- optimization noun
- the process of making something as effective as possible
- optimal adjective
- best or most favorable
- optimum noun
- the best possible level or condition
- optimizer noun
- a person or tool that optimizes
Commonly confused: optimizing or optimistic?
optimizing vs optimistic
Optimistic means hopeful about the future; it is not related to making something work better, even though the spelling looks similar.
Practice
The developers are ___ the app so that it uses less battery power.
Choose one answer.
Optimizing means adjusting something to work as well as possible, which fits an app. Optimistic is an adjective and cannot follow are plus the object.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “optimizing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.