verb · neutral
specialize
UK/ˈspɛʃəlaɪz/US/ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/SPE·cial·ize
to concentrate on and become an expert in a particular subject or skill
Examples
“Doctors often specialize in a particular area of medicine.”
“The company decided to specialize in organic foods.”
“Universities should allow students to specialize if they want to deepen expertise.”
Band 8 sentence
“In modern labour markets, workers who specialize in high-skilled tasks often command higher wages but less flexibility.”
Collocations
- specialize in
- specialize in medicine
- specialize as
Word family
Common mistakes
She specialize in cardiology.→She specializes in cardiology.
They want to specialize for software.→They want to specialize in software.
Say it for a higher band
5focus on→6major in→7+specialize
Synonyms
focus on
Easily confused
major in
“She majored in economics at university but later specialized in development economics.”
Related words
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In -ize
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