dastardize

English

Etymology

dastard +‎ -ize

Verb

dastardize (third-person singular simple present dastardizes, present participle dastardizing, simple past and past participle dastardized)

1. To make cowardly; to intimidate or dispirit.
   • 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

     dastardize my courage

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “dastardize”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)