devitalize

[ dee-vahyt-l-ahyz ]

See synonyms for devitalize on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),de·vi·tal·ized, de·vi·tal·iz·ing.

to deprive of vitality or vital properties; make lifeless; weaken.

Origin of devitalize

First recorded in 1840–50; de- + vitalize

Also especially British, de·vi·tal·ise .

Other words from devitalize

de·vi·tal·i·za·tion, noun

Words Nearby devitalize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use devitalize in a sentence

These shoots are useless, devitalize the vine, and hinder vineyard operations.
Manual of American Grape-Growing | U. P. Hedrick
Sometimes the impression of this diathesis is so intense as to devitalize the foetus in utero, causing still-birth.
A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I | Various
Its effect must have also been to devitalize the oxygen and nitrogen of the atmosphere.
A Republic Without a President and Other Stories | Herbert Ward
His opinions, whatever they are, do not devitalize his fiction.
The Critical Game | John Albert Macy
Now will to devitalize the entire hand from the wrist to the finger-tips.
The Renaissance of the Vocal Art | Edmund Myer

British Dictionary definitions for devitalize

devitalize

devitalise

/ (diːˈvaɪtəˌlaɪz) /

verb

(tr) to lower or destroy the vitality of; make weak or lifeless: the war devitalized the economy

Derived forms of devitalize

devitalization or devitalisation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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