Bowdlerize

Bowdlerize
Bowdlerize Bowd"ler*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Bowdlerized}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Bowdlerizing}.] [After Dr. Thomas Bowdler, an English physician, who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare in 1818.] To expurgate, as a book, by omitting or modifying the parts considered offensive; to remove morally objectionable parts; -- said of literary texts.

Syn: bowdlerise, expurgate, shorten, cut. [1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5]

It is a grave defect in the splendid tale of Tom Jones . . . that a Bowdlerized version of it would be hardly intelligible as a tale. --F. Harrison. [1913 Webster] -- {Bowd`ler*i*za"tion}, n. -- {Bowd"ler*ism}, n. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • bowdlerize — I verb censor, curtail, cut, cut out, delete, edit out, emasculate, eviscerate, excise, expunge, expurgate, extirpate, remove associated concepts: censorship, freedom of speech II index censor, expurg …   Law dictionary

  • bowdlerize — 1836, from Thomas Bowdler (1754 1825), English editor who in 1818 published a notorious expurgated Shakespeare, in which, according to his frontispiece, nothing is added to the original text; but those words and expressions omitted which cannot… …   Etymology dictionary

  • bowdlerize — (Amer.) bowd·ler·ize || baÊŠdlÉ™raɪz v. bowdlerise, censor literature, modify a written work by abridging in content, change a written work by distorting in style or content (named after Thomas Bowdler who published a censored version of… …   English contemporary dictionary

  • bowdlerize — (also bowdlerise) ► VERB ▪ remove indecent or offensive material from (a text). ORIGIN from the name of Dr Thomas Bowdler (1754 1825), an American who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare …   English terms dictionary

  • bowdlerize — [boud′lər īz΄, bōd′lə rīz΄] vt. bowdlerized, bowdlerizing [after Thomas Bowdler (1754 1825), Eng editor who (1818) published an expurgated Shakespeare] to remove passages considered offensive from (a book, play, etc.) bowdlerism n. bowdlerization …   English World dictionary

  • bowdlerize — [[t]ba͟ʊdləraɪz, AM bo͟ʊd [/t]] bowdlerizes, bowdlerizing, bowdlerized VERB (disapproval) To bowdlerize a book or film means to take parts of it out before publishing it or showing it. [V n] Mark Twain s wife was so prudish she felt it necessary… …   English dictionary

  • bowdlerize — UK [ˈbaʊdləraɪz] / US [ˈbaʊdləˌraɪz] verb [transitive] Word forms bowdlerize : present tense I/you/we/they bowdlerize he/she/it bowdlerizes present participle bowdlerizing past tense bowdlerized past participle bowdlerized to remove the parts of… …   English dictionary

  • bowdlerize — transitive verb ( ized; izing) Etymology: Thomas Bowdler died 1825 English editor Date: 1836 1. to expurgate (as a book) by omitting or modifying parts considered vulgar 2. to modify by abridging, simplifying, or distorting in style or content •… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • bowdlerize — bowdlerism, n. bowdlerization, n. bowdlerizer, n. /bohd leuh ruyz , bowd /, v.t., bowdlerized, bowdlerizing. to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. Also, esp. Brit., bowdlerise. [1830… …   Universalium

  • bowdlerize — verb /ˈbaʊd.lə.ˌɹaɪz/ To remove those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar, or otherwise unseemly. The bowdlerized version of the novel, while free of vulgarity, was also free of flavor …   Wiktionary

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