detoxify
See also: de-toxify
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Attested since 1905 (twelve years earlier than toxify), from de- + tox- + -ify. (Detoxicate is attested one year earlier, since 1904.)
Verb edit
detoxify (third-person singular simple present detoxifies, present participle detoxifying, simple past and past participle detoxified)
- To remove foreign and harmful substances from something.
- 1907, John Howland, “Some possible etiological factors in the recurrent vomiting of children”, in Transactions of the American Pediatric Society, volume 18, page 295:
- As a result of this, in some way or other, unknown to us, a diminished power of oxidation results and the organism loses the power to detoxify substances absorbed from the intestine which have been present there in excess; […]
- 2015 May 5, Angelique Chrisafis, “Front National family feud goes nuclear as Jean-Marie Le Pen disowns Marine”, in The Guardian[1]:
- The severe disciplinary action taken by his daughter—who since taking over the FN in 2011 has led a drive to “detoxify” the party and move it away from the racist, jackbooted, antisemitic imagery of the past—was supposed to silence her father.
- To make something that is harmful more benign.
- 2023, Ronnie Janoff-Bulman, The Two Moralities: Conservatives, Liberals, and the Roots of Our Political Divide, page 2:
- We can either break as a nation or find a way to detoxify our politics.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
remove harmful substances
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