Definition of bowdlerize

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< Bowditch, Nathaniel

bowel >

bowd·ler·ize    (bdl-rz, boud-) KEY 

TRANSITIVE VERB:
bowd·ler·ized, bowd·ler·iz·ing, bowd·ler·iz·es

1. To expurgate (a book, for example) prudishly.
2. To modify, as by shortening or simplifying or by skewing the content in a certain manner.

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ETYMOLOGY:
After Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare in 1818

OTHER FORMS:
bowdler·ism(Noun), bowdler·i·zation  (-lr--zshn) KEY (Noun), bowdler·izer(Noun)