summarize
Other forms: summarized; summarizing; summarizes
To summarize something, only include the important stuff. If your teacher asks you to summarize several events from the Civil War, she wants the important facts, not every single detail you can find.
When you summarize something, you write or tell the general idea and only the most important points. It's a skill we often use in school or at work, but even in our personal lives, we summarize: like when a friend asks what the book you're reading is about, or someone wants to know about your recent vacation. You don't tell them every single detail, talking yourself to exhaustion. Instead, you summarize — describing just the key events that "sum up" the experience.
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing summarize
How can you perform well on the reading section of the SAT if you don’t fully understand the language being used in the directions and in the questions? Learn this list of 25 words that are based on our analysis of the words likely to appear in question stems, answer options, and test directions. Following our Roadmap to the SAT? Head back to see what else you should be learning this week.
Before you can answer a question on the PARCC English Language Arts/Literacy section, you first need to know what the question is asking. Learn this list of 45 words that we extracted from a PARCC practice test's directions, question stems, and answer options.
Take the guesswork out of standardized tests by mastering the vocabulary you'll likely see in test directions and questions. Practicing these lists will help boost your comprehension and your confidence on test day — no matter what test you're preparing to take.