Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
bowdlerize [bohd-luh-rahyz, boud-] ExamplesWord Origin 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 ShakespeareRelated formsbowd·ler·ism, nounbowd·ler·i·za·tion, nounbowd·ler·iz·er, nounun·bowd·ler·ized, adjective Examples from the Web for bowdlerise Historical Examples of bowdlerise
He is in fact one of the few writers of real eminence who have been forced to Bowdlerise themselves.
George Saintsbury
British Dictionary definitions for bowdlerise bowdlerize bowdlerise verb
- (tr) to remove passages or words regarded as indecent from (a play, novel, etc); expurgate
Derived Formsbowdlerization or bowdlerisation, nounbowdlerizer or bowdleriser, nounbowdlerism, nounWord Origin for bowdlerize C19: after Thomas Bowdler (1754–1825), English editor who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare Word Origin and History for bowdlerise bowdlerize v.
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 with propriety be read aloud in a family.” Related: Bowdlerized; bowdlerizing.