Select the synonym (word closest in meaning) of “consolidate” when it is used in the sense of bringing things together and making them stronger or more secure.

Introduction:
Synonym questions test your knowledge of words that have similar meanings and help build a strong vocabulary for reading and writing. The verb consolidate is frequently used in academic, business, and political contexts. It often means to combine several things into a more effective whole or to strengthen a position. Your task is to select the option that best matches this sense among the four provided alternatives.

Given Data / Assumptions:

- Target word: consolidate. - Options: centralize, variate, declare, announce. - The relevant meaning of consolidate here is to bring together or strengthen.

Concept / Approach:
Consolidate can mean to combine smaller parts into a single unit or to make a position more solid and secure. In government, a ruler may consolidate power by bringing authority into one place. In business, a company may consolidate its operations. Centralize means to gather control or operations into a single central point, which closely matches this sense. Declare and announce are about making information public, while variate is not a standard verb in this context and does not reflect the idea of combining or strengthening.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that consolidate in many contexts means to combine and strengthen. Step 2: Think of phrases such as consolidate power or consolidate departments. Step 3: Compare centralize, which means to bring activities, power, or control into one central location or authority. Step 4: Notice that declare and announce refer to saying something formally or publicly, not to combining or strengthening. Step 5: Recognise that variate is not normally used as a verb in standard English and does not match the required meaning. Step 6: Choose centralize as the closest synonym.

Verification / Alternative check:
Consider example sentences: The company decided to consolidate its regional offices into one headquarters and The government moved to centralize decision making in the capital. Both sentences show similar actions of bringing different parts together under one authority. The closeness of meaning between consolidate and centralize in such examples confirms that centralize is the best synonym here.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Variate is related to variation but is not a common or precise verb in this context, and it does not express strengthening or combining. Declare means to state something clearly and officially, while announce means to make something known publicly. Although these can occur after a consolidation, they are actions of speech, not the process of combining or strengthening itself. Therefore they cannot be considered synonyms for consolidate in the intended sense.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes choose words like declare or announce because they have seen them frequently in news or political speeches, but frequency of use is not the same as similarity of meaning. The safest strategy is to create a simple mental paraphrase of the target word, such as consolidate equals bring together and strengthen, and then look for an option that matches that paraphrase. This reduces confusion between widely used but unrelated words.

Final Answer:
centralize is the correct synonym for consolidate in this context.