neutralize
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From French neutraliser (first attested in 1642).[1] By surface analysis, neutral + -ize.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈnjuːtɹəlaɪz/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈnutɹəˌlaɪz/
Audio (US) (file)
Verb edit
neutralize (third-person singular simple present neutralizes, present participle neutralizing, simple past and past participle neutralized)
- (transitive) To make even, inactive or ineffective.
- Synonyms: counteract, counterweigh
- The antidote neutralised the toxin.
- (transitive) To make (a territory, etc.) politically neutral.
- 1965, United States. Congress. Senate, Hearings, volume 1, page 77:
- All the powers involved are committed not only to stay out of a given territory, but also to reenter it if any one of them violates the independence of the neutralized country.
- (transitive, chemistry) To make (an acidic or alkaline substance) chemically neutral.
- (transitive, military, euphemistic) To kill.
- 2019, “Mass Effect (Trilogy)”, in Michael M. Levy, Farah Mendlesohn, editors, Aliens in Popular Culture[1], ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 175:
- At the beginning of the opening game, Shepard becomes the first human Spectre, an elite operative given broad authority to neutralize threats to galactic order in the galaxy.
- 2023 October 17, Lisa O'Carroll, Miranda Bryant, Lorenzo Tondo, quoting Alexander De Croo, “Killing of two Swedish football fans in Brussels ‘probably lone wolf’ attack”, in The Guardian[2], →ISSN:
- “We managed to neutralise the guilty person. So there was no longer any imminent threat,” De Croo said, […]
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
to make even, inactive or ineffective
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To make chemically neutral
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References edit
- ^ “neutralize, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Portuguese edit
Verb edit
neutralize
- inflection of neutralizar: