mobilized

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of mobilize.

   The government mobilized its reserves as tensions rose along the border.

   Within hours, aid workers had mobilized to reach the stranded families.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty as past tense and past participle, and it carries both of the verb's constructions. With an object it means to make something mobile or to ready troops and equipment. Only this transitive use can turn passive, as in the reserves were mobilized. Without an object, people ready themselves: aid workers had mobilized. The -ize spelling is shared by US and Oxford British usage.

2. 2
   adjective

   Liable to be called into active service or organized for coordinated action.

   The mobilized reserves reported to their assigned posts within a day.

   Border regions kept a mobilized population ready throughout the crisis.

   Note

   Here the participle has become a describing word, and it can be graded: more mobilized, most mobilized. That is the easiest way to tell it from the past-tense verb. The reserves were mobilized by the government reports an action. A highly mobilized region describes a state that can be stronger or weaker. Before a noun, as in mobilized reserves, it almost always reads as this adjective.

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