circumcise
Americanverb (used with object)
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circumcises,
present (3rd person singular)
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circumcised,
past participle, past
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circumcising
present participle
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to remove the prepuce of (a male), especially as a religious rite.
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to remove the clitoris, prepuce, or labia of (a female).
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to purify spiritually.
verb
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to remove the foreskin of (a male)
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to incise surgically the skin over the clitoris of (a female)
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to remove the clitoris of (a female)
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to perform the religious rite of circumcision on (someone)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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circumcisesimple
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circumcisessimple
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have circumcisedperfect
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has circumcisedperfect
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am circumcisingprogressive
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are circumcisingprogressive
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is circumcisingprogressive
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have been circumcisingperfect progressive
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has been circumcisingperfect progressive
Past
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circumcisedsimple
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had circumcisedperfect
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was circumcisingprogressive
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were circumcisingprogressive
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had been circumcisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of circumcise
1200–50; Middle English circumcisen < Latin circumcīsus (past participle of circumcīdere to cut around), equivalent to circum- circum- + -cīsus ( -cīd- cut + -tus past participle suffix; see -cide)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This was when piracy was at its peak and she had just given birth to a son, whom they wanted to circumcise.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2024
Those choices can be as substantial as whether to circumcise a baby or as minor as giving in and deciding that yes, fine, a 3-year-old can wear a ballerina costume to school.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 13, 2022
We can all see the circumcision data, but some of us will circumcise our kids and some of us won't, because there are small pluses and small minuses and preferences are important.
From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2021
Her lyrics are often clever throughout: “Don’t circumcise my circumstance,” she sings in one song.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 30, 2020
Honoring Abraham, the Muslims and Jews circumcise their boys.
From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat
Because of the lack of information, the U.S. is the only country that circumcises most of its male infants for nonreligious reasons.
From Time Magazine Archive
He circumcises the semi-Jew, Timothy; and he performs his vows in the temple.
From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg
So Noureddin gave him leave, whereupon another rose and said, 'O my lord, I wish to go to my brother, for he circumcises his son to-day.'
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume I by John Payne
She said furthermore, "As my son hath removed my reproach, so Joshua, his descendant, will roll away a reproach from the Israelites, when he circumcises them beyond Jordan."
From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Henrietta Szold
As he stands on a rise of ground, Maunakalika, with his robe Hakaula, and his mat Ikuwa, she circumcises Palila and returns with him to Alanapo.
From The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai by Martha Warren Beckwith
Mohamed Abdisamad was circumcised on 12 February 2023, by a circumciser who had been recommended to his parents and requested by them to perform the procedure on their son, the West London Coroner's report said.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2026
“There’s two studies that show children who were circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2025
Specifically, he said, the study relied on a tiny sample of Muslim boys circumcised in hospitals rather than at home -- the dominant cultural practice.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2025
Somalia tops the list of countries where the practice, also known as female circumcision, is prevalent, with 99% of the female population between the ages of 15 and 49 having been circumcised.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
Acosta weighed the Indians-as-Jews theory but eventually dismissed it because Indians were not circumcised.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
The other notable western nations circumcising baby boys are Canada and Australia.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 20, 2019
Even for some progressive Jews, circumcising a son and holding a bris remains a quintessential part of being a Jewish parent.
From New York Times ● Jul. 25, 2017
On the other hand, infancy is undoubtedly the best time to perform a circumcision: While infant circumcision is safe and simple, circumcising older children poses a greater risk of complication.
From Slate ● May 22, 2015
Advocates say that in recent years doctors have begun making clandestine visits to villages, arriving at night and often under the guise of circumcising boys.
From Newsweek ● Mar. 17, 2015
At Gilgal he “rolled away the reproach of the Egyptians” by circumcising the people.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
