modernize

Word family

mod·ern·ize (also modernise British English) /ˈmɒdənaɪz $ ˈmɑːdər-/ verb

1 [transitiveT]NOW to make something such as a system or building more modern 使〔系统、建筑物等〕现代化

They need more funds to modernize the country’s telephone system.

他们需要更多的资金将本国的电话系统现代化。

a tastefully modernized old farmhouse

雅致而现代化的旧农舍

2 [intransitiveI]MODERN to start using more modern methods and equipment 采用现代方法和设备，现代化

The business will lose money if it doesn’t modernize.

这家企业如果不实行现代化就要赔钱。

—modernizer noun [countableC]

the conflict between the modernizers and the conservatives

革新派和保守派之间的冲突

—modernization /ˌmɒdənaɪˈzeɪʃən $ ˌmɑːdərnə-/ noun [uncountableU]

the modernization of the railway system

铁路系统的现代化

Examples from the Corpus

modernize• Their town house had been sold, lingeringly, with rearguard modernizing actions to keep up its price.• It was an old farmhouse that had been modernized by the previous owner.• Any money raised will be used to modernize classrooms.• Salinas pledged to modernize Mexico when he was elected.• And why is modernizing motherhood so hard?• Rather, O Brother is filled with faithful if somewhat modernized renditions of the folky music of the Old South.• A serious delay in modernizing the complex could threaten that compromise.• Our aim was to modernize the health service, and we succeeded.• Mr Wilson had also said a good deal about modernizing the machinery of government.• This was an important step towards a national health service, though in practice few authorities did much to modernize their facilities.

From Longman Business Dictionary