Equalizes

Equalizes is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb equalize. To equalize means to make things equal or to bring different quantities, conditions, or states into balance. The word comes from the adjective equal and the suffix -ize, which signals a process or action.

In science and engineering, equalizing describes actions that reduce gradients, such as equalizing pressure in a hydraulic or pneumatic system, equalizing electrical potential in circuits, or leveling temperatures across components. In diving, aviation, and other activities affected by pressure changes, a person may equalize the ears to adapt to ambient pressure changes. In audio and music, equalization adjusts the balance of frequency components; a device or process that does this is said to equalize the sound.

In sports, to equalize the score means to bring the teams to the same number of points, creating a tie. In statistics or epidemiology, the term may be used loosely to describe making samples or distributions more comparable, often through weighting or standardization, though other terms like normalization are also used.

Related forms include equalization and equalizer; the noun equalization refers to the process, while the adjective equalized describes a state that has been made equal.