locate

locate — verb

1. to be found at some specific spot — such as a building standing on a certain str

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

to be found at some specific spot — such as a building standing on a certain street, a town lying beside a river, or an office situated in a district.

Example

The hotel is located near the main train station, just five minutes away on foot.

be located + near [place]

Mira's new office is located on the top floor of the building overlooking the river.

Common collocations
  • located in
  • located at
  • located near
  • located on
  • located within
  • located off
  • located between
Synonyms
  • situated

    More formal, often used in writing about buildings or towns

  • found

    Less precise, more general (e.g. 'you can find us on the third floor')

  • positioned

    Emphasises deliberate placement rather than just being present

  • placed

    Suggests someone put it there on purpose

Grammar Patterns

be located + in/at/near/on + [place]

Usage Note

Almost always used in the passive form 'be located + preposition'. The active form ('Something locates somewhere') is very rare in modern English and may sound unnatural.

Common Mistakes

The store locates in the city center.
The store is located in the city center.
Use passive 'be located' for describing where things are.

2. to discover or determine where something or someone is, especially through searc

2.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to discover or determine where something or someone is, especially through searching, using equipment, or following clues — for example, finding a lost phone by tracking its signal, or pinpointing a gas leak in a building.

Example

The rescue team used a drone to locate the missing hikers before nightfall.

locate + [person] — searching for people

Kevin tried to locate his phone by calling it from a friend's mobile.

Common collocations
  • locate the source
  • locate a missing person
  • locate a signal
  • locate a leak
  • locate a suspect
  • locate a device
  • locate coordinates
  • locate a target
Synonyms
  • find

    Less formal and more general; suitable for everyday situations

  • pinpoint

    Implies very precise location, often using technology or careful analysis

  • track down

    Suggests a longer search process with multiple steps

  • discover

    Broader — can mean finding something unknown, not just its position

Antonyms
  • lose

    The opposite of finding; to no longer know where something is

  • misplace

    To put something somewhere and then forget where it is

Grammar Patterns

locate + [thing/person being searched for]

Usage Note

This is the active, transitive sense. Unlike sense 1 ('be located'), this sense does NOT use the passive form to describe position — it describes the action of finding.

Common Mistakes

I can't locate my keys anywhere.
I can't find my keys anywhere.
'Locate' sounds too formal for everyday lost items; use 'find' for keys, glasses, or other small personal items.
She located the book very interesting.
She found the book very interesting.
'Locate' cannot mean 'have an opinion about'; that is the verb 'find'.

3. to go and stay in one spot to run a business, set up operations, or live on a mo

3.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

to go and stay in one spot to run a business, set up operations, or live on a more permanent basis — for example, a company opening a new factory in another country, or a family deciding to settle in a small town.

Example

Many tech startups have decided to locate in the new innovation district near the university.

locate + in [area] — for business

The company plans to locate its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore next year.

Common collocations
  • locate in
  • locate a factory
  • locate a headquarters
  • locate an office
  • locate operations
  • locate permanently
Synonyms
  • set up

    More common in everyday business talk; less formal

  • establish

    More formal, implies creating something that will last

  • base

    Often used for headquarters ('base their operations in...')

  • settle

    Used for people choosing where to live, not businesses

Antonyms
  • relocate

    Not a true antonym — it means to move from one place to another, rather than settling for the first time

Grammar Patterns

locate + in [place]

locate + at [place]

locate + object + in [place]

locate + object + at [place]

Usage Note

When used for business, this sense is often transitive with a direct object (the office, the headquarters). When used for settling, it is usually intransitive. The collocation 'locate + in + [place]' is the most common grammatical pattern.

Common Mistakes

We located our new factory.' (without saying where)
We located our new factory in Vietnam.
'Locate' in this sense needs a location complement; it sounds incomplete without one.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/2

While all four words relate to learning where something is, they differ in precision and style. 'Find' is the everyday all-purpose word (I found my keys under the sofa) and works in almost any context. 'Locate' is more formal and suggests a deliberate search — you locate a gas leak or a missing person, but not your keys. 'Pinpoint' implies extreme precision, often with technology (the radar pinpointed the storm's centre to within one kilometre). 'Track down' feels more active and step-by-step, like following clues over time (she tracked down the original owner of the painting). 'Discover' is broader — it can mean finding something unknown (discover a new species), not just finding something lost. In a police context: the team tracked down the suspect using phone records, then pinpointed his exact location with GPS tracking.

find ↗pinpointtrack downdiscover ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • be located in the heart of
  • be located just off
  • be located a short walk from

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

'Locate' entered English in the early 1500s from Latin 'locatus', the past participle of 'locare' meaning 'to place', which itself came from 'locus' meaning 'place'. The original English sense was simply 'to place something somewhere'. By the 1600s it had also taken on the meaning 'to find where something is', and by the 1800s it was being used for businesses deciding where to set up. The passive construction 'be located' became the standard way to describe where something stands.