# organize

/ˈɔɹɡəˌnaɪz/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/organize
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. to arrange or plan

verb · CEFR A2

to plan an event or to put things in a neat, useful order.

For teachers: to arrange elements into a structured or functioning whole; often used for planning events or systematizing physical objects.

- She helped organize the office party so that everyone had a job to do.
- The project manager spent the morning trying to organize the chaotic workflow into a series of manageable daily tasks.

Usage: Commonly used with a direct object representing the thing being structured.

### 2. to form a union

verb · CEFR B2

to bring workers together into a group or union to ask for better pay or conditions.

For teachers: to form or persuade people to join a trade union or similar collective bargaining group.

- The factory workers decided to organize to ask for safer working conditions.
- Labor leaders spent months attempting to organize the warehouse staff despite significant opposition from the local management team.

Usage: Can be used intransitively to describe the act of forming a collective group.

### 3. music

verb · CEFR C2 · Technical · Archaic

to sing or play music in different parts or layers.

For teachers: to arrange or perform music in parts, specifically in the context of early polyphony.

- The choir began to organize the ancient melody into several different voices.
- In the study of early medieval polyphony, scholars examine how singers would organize a simple plainsong into complex harmonic layers.

Teaching tip: This sense is highly specialized and rarely encountered outside of historical musicology.

## Examples

- I need to organize my desk before I start working.
- The students worked together to organize a charity concert to raise money for the local hospital.
- The curator spent months trying to organize the vast collection of historical documents into a coherent timeline that visitors could easily follow.

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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.