mobilize
MOH-bi-lyz
/ˈməʊ.bɪ.laɪz/
To organize and encourage a group of people to take coordinated collective action; to assemble resources for a cause.
Implies activating dormant energy and organizing scattered individuals into coordinated movement.
The story behind the word. Borrowed from French mobiliser, originally a 19th-century military term for moving troops into active combat readiness. In the mid-20th century, social scientists adopted it to describe organizing citizens for public campaigns.
Word relationships
- rally: Rally emphasizes bringing people together with emotional enthusiasm, while mobilize emphasizes strategic organizational readiness.
- demobilize: Demobilize means disbanding organized groups or halting active collective operations.
Commonly confused with
- organize: Organize means arranging components into a structured system; mobilize means activating those components into physical action.
Word family
- mobilization (noun): The action of organizing and encouraging people to take collective action
Collocations
- mobilize voters
- mobilize resources
- mobilize support
- rapidly mobilize
Idioms & expressions
- mobilize the troops
Example sentences
- "Civic organizations worked rapidly to mobilize voters ahead of the parliamentary election." Public interest policy brief
- "The community coalition managed to mobilize emergency medical resources within hours of the flood." Disaster relief advocacy report
Memory hook
MOBILIZE puts a MOB into MOBILE action. Setting people into active motion.
When not to use
Avoid using for the simple physical movement of an individual person.
Fun facts
- In modern political campaigning, 'micro-mobilization' refers to using instant messaging alerts to rally supporters to public demonstrations in minutes.
Explore more words
Take your vocabulary further with LangBlitz
Our English vocabulary app: FSRS spaced repetition, 5,000+ curated words across 119 topic groups, CEFR A1 to C2. Explore your mastery with the beautiful Vocabulary World feature.