castrate

American  

[kas-treyt] / ˈkæs treɪt /

verb (used with object)

castrated, castrating

1. to remove the testes of; emasculate; geld.

2. to remove the ovaries of.

3. Psychology. to render impotent, literally or metaphorically, by psychological means, especially by threatening a person's masculinity or femininity.

4. to deprive of strength, power, or efficiency; weaken.

   Without those ten new submarines, our navy will be castrated.

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noun

1. a castrated person or animal.

castrate British  

/ kæˈstreɪt /

verb

1. to remove the testicles of; emasculate; geld

2. to deprive of vigour, masculinity, etc

3. to remove the ovaries of; spay

4. to expurgate or censor (a book, play, etc)

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Other Word Forms

• castration noun
• castrator noun

Etymology

Origin of castrate

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin castrātus, past participle of castrāre “to geld,” equivalent to castr- “geld” + -ātus past participle suffix; -ate ¹

Example Sentences

It will be adapted from Anne Rice's 1982 novel, which is set in the 18th Century world of the "castrati" - male singing stars who were castrated to preserve their high voices.

From BBC

Another contract would provide funding to DonkeyLand to castrate 100 donkeys within a year.

From Los Angeles Times

In their heyday, Handel’s operas almost always involved castrati, singers who were castrated as boys to preserve their higher voices but still gained the full lung capacity and overall stamina of grown men.

From New York Times

They arrived to find her father at the corral branding and castrating cattle.

From Los Angeles Times

Another strategy — capturing, anaesthetizing and transporting the hippos by helicopter to a facility to be castrated — would cost at least $530,000 and take up to 52 years for eradication, the study found.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• mutilate
• neuter
• spay
• sterilize