1. To unite into one system or whole; combine: consolidated five separate agencies into a single department.
2. To make strong or secure; strengthen: She consolidated her power during her first year in office.
3. To make firm or coherent; form into a compact mass.

1. To become solidified or united.
2. To join in a merger or union: The two firms consolidated under a new name.

[Latin cōnsolidāre, cōnsolidāt- : com-, intensive pref.; see com- + solidāre, to make firm (from solidus, firm).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.