anesthetize
Americanverb (used with object)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of anesthetize
1840–50; < Greek anaísthēt ( os ) ( see anesthetic) + -ize
Explanation
If you need to have surgery, a doctor will anesthetize you, or give you medicine to make you sleep through the operation. When a vet knocks your dog out to clean his teeth, she anesthetizes him. Oral surgeons also anesthetize patients before removing their wisdom teeth. In both cases, special drugs are used to put the patient under, or make him sleep long enough for the procedure to be finished before he wakes up. A doctor whose job it is to anesthetize patients is called an anesthesiologist. The root word is Greek: anaisthesia, "lack of feeling or sensation."
Vocabulary lists containing anesthetize
Novel Study: Fahrenheit 451, Part III
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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.
Zoo officials said the tragedy shows why decisions to anesthetize animals are not taken lightly.
From Washington Times • Aug. 30, 2023
We should question what these stereotypes serve, and the degree to which they anesthetize us to the mistreatment of others.
From Salon • Dec. 11, 2022
They’d dipped the animals in magnesium chloride to anesthetize them, a common lab procedure.
From New York Times • Aug. 27, 2022
They said the failure to anesthetize or control pain in intensive care unit patients can also increase the risk of illness or death from respiratory, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal complications.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 20, 2022
In fact, the vapors of chloroform, which anesthetize plants, also prevent nitrification, since they anaesthetize the nitric ferment.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 446, July 19, 1884 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.
