# concentrate

/ˈkɑnsənˌtɹeɪt/ (US) · /kˈɒnsəntɹˌeɪt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/concentrate
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. to focus attention

verb · CEFR B1

to give all your attention to the thing you are doing.

For teachers: to direct one's mental powers or efforts towards a particular activity or problem. Intransitive when used with the preposition 'on'.

- It is hard to concentrate on your work when there is loud music playing.
- The student found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on the lecture as the construction noise outside grew more intrusive.

### 2. to gather together

verb · CEFR B2 · Academic

to bring things together into one place or group.

For teachers: to bring together or collect into a common centre or focus. Transitive and often used in passive constructions.

- The company decided to concentrate its offices in the city centre.
- The troops were ordered to concentrate their forces along the northern border in anticipation of the seasonal migration.

### 3. to make a liquid stronger

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to make a liquid stronger by removing water or other parts.

For teachers: to increase the concentration of a substance in a mixture, typically by removing a solvent such as water.

- You can concentrate the sauce by boiling it for a few more minutes.
- The chemist used a vacuum evaporator to concentrate the solution without damaging the heat-sensitive proteins.

### 4. a condensed substance

noun · CEFR B2

a substance that has been made stronger by removing water.

For teachers: a substance or solution that has been made more potent by the removal of a diluting agent.

- This orange juice is made from concentrate, so you need to add water.
- The laboratory received a shipment of high-purity concentrate that required careful handling before it could be safely diluted for testing.

## Examples

- Mix one part fruit concentrate with four parts water.
- The factory ships orange juice as a frozen concentrate to save on shipping costs and storage space.
- The laboratory technician prepared a high-purity concentrate of the compound to ensure the reaction would proceed at the required velocity during the final phase of the experiment.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.