desegregate

verb

de·​seg·​re·​gate (ˌ)dē-ˈse-gri-ˌgāt How to pronounce desegregate (audio)
desegregated; desegregating; desegregates

transitive verb

: to eliminate segregation in
specifically : to free of any law, provision, or practice requiring isolation of the members of a particular race in separate units

Examples of desegregate in a Sentence

efforts to desegregate the town's buses Eventually the city's schools desegregated.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Nancy Leftenant-Colon, the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps when it was desegregated after World War II and the sister of one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen pilots, died Jan. 8 in Amityville, N.Y. Cheryl W. Thompson, NPR, 15 Jan. 2025 Ruby Bridges, who at just six years old became a civil rights icon simply for attending her school, which was newly desegregated in 1960, spoke with us about the unfolding debate on book banning, and whose stories can be told. NBC News, 29 Dec. 2024 Minister, pioneer, activist: Civil Rights leader James Lawson dies at 95 James Lawson, the man who inspired a generation of nonviolent activists in the earliest days of the Civil Rights movement and helped organize the movement to desegregate lunch counters in Nashville, died on Sunday. Maria Leontaras, The Tennessean, 11 June 2024 Like Lawson, Lewis was among the leaders of the sit-ins that desegregated Nashville lunch counters in the 1960s. Craig Shoup, The Tennessean, 18 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for desegregate 

Word History

First Known Use

1949, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of desegregate was in 1949

Dictionary Entries Near desegregate

Cite this Entry

“Desegregate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desegregate. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

desegregate

verb
de·​seg·​re·​gate (ˈ)dē-ˈseg-ri-ˌgāt How to pronounce desegregate (audio)
: to eliminate segregation in
especially : to end by law the isolation of members of a particular race in separate units
desegregate city schools
desegregation
(ˌ)dē-ˌseg-ri-ˈgā-shən
noun

Legal Definition

desegregate

transitive verb
de·​seg·​re·​gate dē-ˈse-grə-ˌgāt How to pronounce desegregate (audio)
desegregated; desegregating
: to eliminate segregation in
specifically : to free from any law, provision, or practice requiring isolation of the members of a particular race in separate units

intransitive verb

: to become desegregated

More from Merriam-Webster on desegregate

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