deodorize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deodorizesimple
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deodorizessimple
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have deodorizedperfect
-
has deodorizedperfect
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am deodorizingprogressive
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are deodorizingprogressive
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is deodorizingprogressive
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have been deodorizingperfect progressive
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has been deodorizingperfect progressive
Past
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deodorizedsimple
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had deodorizedperfect
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was deodorizingprogressive
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were deodorizingprogressive
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had been deodorizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deodorize
Explanation
To deodorize is to remove or hide bad smells. After cooking fish, you could deodorize your kitchen by burning a cinnamon-scented candle. Whenever you cover up a stinky odor, you deodorize. Using deodorant under your arms is one way to deodorize, and spraying an air freshener around your house or burning incense are other ways. The word dates from the 19th century, from a combination of de-, "undo" or "do the opposite of," odor, Latin for "a smell," and -ize, a verb-forming suffix.
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:
Lineage is also using misters inside the building to try to deodorize the food until it is removed from the site.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Sprinkle it on carpets or rugs to clean and deodorize, or mix with dish soap to clean your sink.
From Fox News ● Dec. 30, 2021
And toss in several used fabric softener sheets — a low-tech way to deodorize — along with a spritz of disinfectant spray to help cover the smells that will surely develop.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 21, 2021
The point of the ad: Since Dave won’t be at your Super Bowl party, but everyone else will, you should probably buy some Febreze to deodorize your bathroom after your gluttonous friends destroy it.
From Slate ● Feb. 5, 2018
Is it possible to deodorize a word which comes to us redolent of "good, thick stupefying incense-smoke," mingled with the reek of the auto-da-fé?
From God and Mr. Wells A Critical Examination of 'God the Invisible King' by Archer, William
While the lemon deodorizes any unwanted smells, the salt scrapes off any remaining residue.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2023
But in showing lots of faces headed for the loo, the spray that deodorizes air by reodorizing it pulls it off with a spot asking whether your bathroom is ready for America’s “halftime bathroom break.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2017
First, lactic-acid bacteria are added after each defecation: the anaerobic fermentation sanitizes and deodorizes.
From Nature ● Jun. 13, 2012
The powdered bark is very useful as an application to indolent ulcers which it instantly deodorizes; like powdered quinine it is used in the treatment of superficial gangrene.
From The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Thomas, Jerome Beers
The oil is extracted from sources such as soybeans, palm fruit, canola seeds, sunflower seeds, and corn, and is then refined, bleached, and deodorized to make it more palatable.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
Once you've deodorized and scrubbed your cutting board, don't forget to give it—and the rest of your station—a good wash, especially if you've been working with raw proteins.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2023
The announcement flipped the minister's statement a day earlier, in which he had said the export ban would only cover refined, bleached, and deodorized palm olein.
From Reuters ● Apr. 27, 2022
“I went down to the front desk to see if there were any rooms that had been cleaned and deodorized the day before, so the scent would not be as strong.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2022
Thus fish or train oils which had up to the time of oil hydrogenating resisted all attempts of being permanently deodorized, can now be employed very satisfactorily for soap manufacture.
From Soap-Making Manual A Practical Handbook on the Raw Materials, Their Manipulation, Analysis and Control in the Modern Soap Plant. by Thomssen, E. G.
Throughout the process, Huml also uses a variety of machines to clean the air, including air scrubbers, deodorizing hydroxyl generators and negative air machines that clean the air and push it outside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2025
After encountering speculation that yogurt might have a deodorizing effect, Barringer and first author Manpreet Kaur, a PhD student in her lab, decided to check it out.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2023
For combination products, you have to choose between which effect you want to be stronger, the sweat-blocking plug or the deodorizing fragrance, says Shari Lipner, an associate professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2023
It can get too cold to shower at increasingly high altitudes; bring deodorizing wipes to freshen up after a long day of trekking.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 25, 2022
The use of chemicals for precipitating, deodorizing, and disinfecting.
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.
