devocalize

English

Etymology

de- +‎ vocalize

Verb

1. (transitive) To make toneless; to deprive of vowel quality.
   • H. Sweet

     If we take a high vowel […] and devocalize it, we obtain a hiss […]

2. (transitive) To reduce the volume of the vocalizations of (an animal) by surgically removing tissue from its vocal cords.

Related terms

• devocalization

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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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 “devocalize”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)