migrate
move to live or work elsewhere
To go to another country or area to live or work there, often for a long time.
[someone] migrates from [a place] to [a place]
- Many young people migrate from rural villages to big cities in search of better jobs.
- After the war, thousands of families migrated to neighboring countries.
- Over the last decade, skilled workers have migrated from the region to North America.
- As the economy changed, people began to migrate inland from the coastal areas.
- Farmers sometimes migrate to the capital during the dry season to find temporary work.
- Every year, many workers migrate to the city.
- Her parents migrated from Mexico to the United States.
- Some people migrate to another country to find a better life.
- After losing his job, he migrated to the capital to look for work.
animals’ regular seasonal movement
When animals, like birds or whales, travel to another place at the same time every year, often because of the weather or to have babies.
[animals] migrate to/from [a place]
- Millions of birds migrate south for the winter.
- The wildebeest migrate across the Serengeti in search of fresh grass.
- These salmon migrate upstream to the river where they were born to spawn.
- Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles to their wintering sites in Mexico.
- As the seasons change, many species migrate to warmer coastal waters.
- Many birds migrate when it gets cold.
- Whales migrate to warm water to have their babies.
- Every year the animals migrate to find food.
- Some fish migrate up the river to lay eggs.
shift activity or users elsewhere
To move an activity, service, or group of people from one place or system to another place or system.
[something] migrates from [thing/place] to [thing/place]
- Over the last decade, much of our shopping has migrated online.
- Young listeners are migrating from traditional radio to streaming platforms.
- Advertising budgets have gradually migrated from print to digital media.
- Many classroom activities migrated to video calls during the pandemic.
- Viewers quickly migrated to the new service after the show switched networks.
- Many people have migrated from TV to online video.
- Our meetings migrated from the office to video calls.
- Most news has migrated from paper to the internet.
- Customers are migrating from the old app to the new one.
move data or systems elsewhere
In computing, to move programs or data from one computer system or platform to another.
[someone] migrates [data/system] to [a platform]
- The company plans to migrate all customer data to a new cloud platform.
- We need to migrate the old email system before support ends.
- IT has scheduled downtime this weekend to migrate the database servers.
- They successfully migrated their website from shared hosting to a dedicated server.
- Before you migrate user accounts, make sure you have a full backup.
- The team will migrate the website to a new server.
- We are migrating our files to the cloud.
- They migrated all user data to the new system.
- IT will migrate the old app to a new platform.
cells moving within an organism
In biology, when cells move from one place in the body to another place.
[cells] migrate to [a location]
- During inflammation, immune cells migrate rapidly to the affected tissue.
- Cancer cells can migrate through the bloodstream and form tumors in other organs.
- Neural crest cells migrate extensively during early development to form various structures.
- Endothelial cells migrate to close the wound surface.
- In this assay we measure how quickly the cells migrate across the membrane.
- Some cancer cells migrate to other parts of the body.
- White blood cells migrate to the place of infection.
- These cells migrate to repair the damaged area.
- During growth, some cells migrate to form new tissue.
- Base: migrate
- 3rd Person Singular: migrates
- Present Participle: migrating
- Past: migrated
migrate online
1move activities onto the internet
To move an activity or service from the physical world to the internet.
- Many university courses have migrated online in recent years.
- Local shops are trying to migrate online to reach more customers.
- During the pandemic, most of our events migrated online.
migrate south for the winter
1animals moving south in winter
To travel to the south during winter, usually said about birds and other animals.
- Many bird species migrate south for the winter to find food.
- As temperatures drop, the geese migrate south for the winter.
- Not all birds migrate south for the winter; some stay all year.
migrate to the cloud
1move IT systems to cloud services
To move programs, data, or systems from your own computers to cloud services on the internet.
- Many small businesses are planning to migrate to the cloud to reduce IT costs.
- The company migrated its entire CRM system to the cloud in six months.
- Before you migrate to the cloud, you need a clear backup and security plan.