bowdlerize, bowdlerise, expurgate, castrate, shorten
(verb) edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate; “bowdlerize a novel”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
bowdlerize (third-person singular simple present bowdlerizes, present participle bowdlerizing, simple past and past participle bowdlerized)
To remove or alter those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar, or otherwise unseemly.
Bowdlerize (third-person singular simple present Bowdlerizes, present participle Bowdlerizing, simple past and past participle Bowdlerized)
Alternative form of bowdlerize
Source: Wiktionary
Bowd"ler*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bowdlerized; p. pr. & vb. n. Bowdlerizing.] [After Dr. Thomas Bowdler, an English physician, who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare in 1818.]
Definition: To expurgate, as a book, by omitting or modifying the parts considered offensive.
It is a grave defect in the splendid tale of Tom Jones . . . that a Bowlderized version of it would be hardly intelligible as a tale. F. Harrison.
– Bowd`ler*i*za"tion (#), n. --Bowd"ler*ism (#), n.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
6 April 2025
(noun) a gymnastic exercise performed starting from a position with the legs over the upper body and moving to an erect position by arching the back and swinging the legs out and down while forcing the chest upright
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
