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
Keep garbage cans clean and deodorize them with bleach or ammonia.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 2, 2017
He wears a musty, rank, cologne that lingers for hours, or even days, unless we wash or deodorize any fabrics in the room.
From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2014
Passing them over, the zinc-copper couple does not suffice to deodorize the impure spirits, so they must be sent directly to a rectifier.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 415, December 15, 1883 by Various
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
These oils are exposed to extremely high heat, sometimes bleached, sometimes deodorized because they smell so bad after such extraction measures; the heat alone can turn these oils into trans fats.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 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
At 11 P. M. he had explained Everything, repudiated many lifelong Friendships, deodorized his College Career, flouted the Demon Rum, and resigned from all Clubs.
From Ade's Fables by Ade, George
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
Researchers tested the garlic deodorizing capacity of yogurt and its individual components of water, fat and protein to see how each stood up to the stink.
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
Sold them a preparation of my invention for deodorizing certain by-products used for manufacturing purposes.
From Average Jones by Adams, Samuel Hopkins
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.
