VERB (5)

1. unite into one;
- Example: "The companies consolidated"

2. make firm or secure; strengthen;
- Example: "consolidate one's gains"
- Example: "consolidate one's hold on first place"

3. bring together into a single whole or system;
- Example: "The town and county schools are being consolidated"

4. form into a solid mass or whole;
- Example: "The mud had consolidated overnight"

5. make or form into a solid or hardened mass;
- Example: "consolidate fibers into boards"

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Consolidate \Con*sol"i*date\, v. i.
   To grow firm and hard; to unite and become solid; as, moist
   clay consolidates by drying.
   [1913 Webster]

         In hurts and ulcers of the head, dryness maketh them
         more apt to consolidate.                 --Bacon.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Consolidate \Con*sol"i*date\, a. [L. consolidatus, p. pr. of
   consolidare to make firm; con- + solidare to make firm;
   solidus solid. See Solid, and cf. Consound.]
   Formed into a solid mass; made firm; consolidated. [R.]
   [1913 Webster]

         A gentleman [should learn to ride] while he is tender
         and the brawns and sinews of his thighs not fully
         consolidate.                             --Elyot.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Consolidate \Con*sol"i*date\, v. t. [imp. & p. p.
   Consolidated; p. pr. & vb. n. Consolidating.]
   1. To make solid; to unite or press together into a compact
      mass; to harden or make dense and firm.
      [1913 Webster]

            He fixed and consolidated the earth.  --T. Burnet.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To unite, as various particulars, into one mass or body;
      to bring together in close union; to combine; as, to
      consolidate the armies of the republic.
      [1913 Webster]

            Consolidating numbers into unity.     --Wordsworth.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Surg.) To unite by means of applications, as the parts of
      a broken bone, or the lips of a wound. [R.]

   Syn: To unite; combine; harden; compact; condense; compress.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

consolidate
    v 1: unite into one; "The companies consolidated"
    2: make firm or secure; strengthen; "consolidate one's gains";
       "consolidate one's hold on first place"
    3: bring together into a single whole or system; "The town and
       county schools are being consolidated"
    4: form into a solid mass or whole; "The mud had consolidated
       overnight"
    5: make or form into a solid or hardened mass; "consolidate
       fibers into boards"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

145 Moby Thesaurus words for "consolidate":
   abbreviate, accelerate, act in concert, act together, add,
   affiliate, aggravate, ally, amalgamate, assimilate, associate,
   band, band together, be in league, beef up, blend, blow up,
   circumscribe, club together, coact, coalesce, coarct, collaborate,
   collude, combine, come together, compact, complicate, compound,
   compress, comprise, concentrate, concert, concord, concur,
   condense, confederate, congest, connect, conspire, constrict,
   constringe, contract, cooperate, cram, cramp, crowd, curtail,
   decrease, deepen, densen, densify, do business with, double, draw,
   draw in, draw together, embody, encompass, enhance, exacerbate,
   exaggerate, federate, flux, fuse, get heads together, get together,
   go partners, hang together, harmonize, heat up, heighten,
   hold together, hook up, hop up, hot up, include, incorporate,
   integrate, intensify, interblend, interfuse, jam, jazz up, join,
   join in, join together, keep together, key up, knit, league,
   league together, lump together, magnify, make common cause,
   make complex, make one, meld, melt into one, merge, mix, narrow,
   partner, play ball, press, pucker, pucker up, pull together, purse,
   put heads together, put together, ram down, ramify, reciprocate,
   redouble, reduce, reembody, reinforce, roll into one, set,
   shade into, sharpen, shorten, solidify, soup up, squeeze,
   stand together, step up, strangle, strangulate, strengthen,
   syncretize, syndicate, synthesize, team up, throw in together,
   tie in, tie up, triple, unify, unite, unite efforts, whet,
   work together, wrinkle