The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Realize \Re"al*ize\, v. i.
   To convert any kind of property into money, especially
   property representing investments, as shares in stock
   companies, bonds, etc.
   [1913 Webster]

         Wary men took the alarm, and began to realize, a word
         now first brought into use to express the conversion of
         ideal property into something real.      --W. Irving.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Realize \Re"al*ize\ (r[=e]"al*[imac]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
   Realized (-[imac]zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Realizing
   (-[imac]`z[i^]ng).] [Cf. F. r['e]aliser.]
   1. To make real; to convert from the imaginary or fictitious
      into the actual; to bring into concrete existence; to
      effectuate; to accomplish; as, to realize a scheme or
      project.
      [1913 Webster]

            We realize what Archimedes had only in hypothesis,
            weighing a single grain against the globe of earth.
                                                  --Glanvill.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To cause to seem real; to impress upon the mind as actual;
      to feel vividly or strongly; to make one's own in
      apprehension or experience.
      [1913 Webster]

            Many coincidences . . . soon begin to appear in them
            [Greek inscriptions] which realize ancient history
            to us.                                --Jowett.
      [1913 Webster]

            We can not realize it in thought, that the object .
            . . had really no being at any past moment. --Sir W.
                                                  Hamilton.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To convert into real property; to make real estate of; as,
      to realize his fortune.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To acquire as an actual possession; to obtain as the
      result of plans and efforts; to gain; to get; as, to
      realize large profits from a speculation.
      [1913 Webster]

            Knighthood was not beyond the reach of any man who
            could by diligent thrift realize a good estate.
                                                  --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To convert into actual money; as, to realize assets.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

realize
    v 1: be fully aware or cognizant of [syn: recognize,
         recognise, realize, realise, agnize, agnise]
    2: perceive (an idea or situation) mentally; "Now I see!"; "I
       just can't see your point"; "Does she realize how important
       this decision is?"; "I don't understand the idea" [syn:
       understand, realize, realise, see]
    3: make real or concrete; give reality or substance to; "our
       ideas must be substantiated into actions" [syn: realize,
       realise, actualize, actualise, substantiate]
    4: earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as
       salary or wages; "How much do you make a month in your new
       job?"; "She earns a lot in her new job"; "this merger brought
       in lots of money"; "He clears $5,000 each month" [syn:
       gain, take in, clear, make, earn, realize,
       realise, pull in, bring in]
    5: convert into cash; of goods and property [syn: realize,
       realise]
    6: expand or complete (a part in a piece of baroque music) by
       supplying the harmonies indicated in the figured bass [syn:
       realize, realise]