bowdlerize
[ bohd-luh-rahyz, boud- ]
/ ˈboʊd ləˌraɪz, ˈbaʊd- /
verb (used with object), bowd·ler·ized, bowd·ler·iz·ing.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
Also
especially British,
bowd·ler·ise.
Origin of bowdlerize
1830–40; after Thomas
Bowdler (1754–1825), English editor of an expurgated edition of Shakespeare
OTHER WORDS FROM bowdlerize
bowd·ler·ism, noun bowd·ler·i·za·tion, noun bowd·ler·iz·er, noun un·bowd·ler·ized, adjectiveWords nearby bowdlerize
bow window,
bow-iron,
bow-wow,
bowditch,
bowditch's law,
bowdlerize,
bowdlerizing,
bowed,
bowel,
bowel bypass,
bowel bypass syndrome
British Dictionary definitions for bowdlerizing
bowdlerize
bowdlerise
/ (ˈbaʊdləˌraɪz) /
verb
(tr)
to remove passages or words regarded as indecent from (a play, novel, etc); expurgate
Derived forms of bowdlerize
bowdlerization or bowdlerisation, noun bowdlerizer or bowdleriser, noun bowdlerism, nounWord Origin for bowdlerize
C19: after Thomas
Bowdler (1754–1825), English editor who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare
Cultural definitions for bowdlerizing
bowdlerizing
[ (bohd-luh-reye-zing, bowd-luh-reye-zing) ]
Amending a book by removing passages and words deemed obscene or objectionable (see obscenity). The name comes from Thomas Bowdler's 1818 edition of the plays of William Shakespeare, which was amended so that it could “be read aloud in a family.”