bowdlerise
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Alternative spellings
- bowdlerize (chiefly US)
[edit] Etymology
From Thomas Bowdler who in 1818 published a censored version of Shakespeare, expurgating "those words and expressions [...] which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family."
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to bowdlerise (third-person singular simple present bowdlerises, present participle bowdlerising, simple past and past participle bowdlerised)
- To remove those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar or adult in nature.
- the bowdlerised version of the text, while free of vulgarity, was also free of flavour
- (by extension) To remove those parts of a text considered to be damaging to an authority.

