euthanize

[yoo-thuh-nahyz]

verb (used with object), eu·tha·nized, eu·tha·niz·ing.

to subject to euthanasia: to euthanize injured animals.

Also eu·than·a·tize

[yoo-than-uh-tahyz] /yuˈθæn əˌtaɪz/; especially British, eu·tha·nise, eu·than·a·tise.

Origin of euthanize

First recorded in 1960–65; euthan(asia) + -ize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for euthanize

Contemporary Examples of euthanize

The three-drug formula, Alper writes, is “less reliable, and therefore less humane, than the method used to euthanize animals.”
Executed Like a Dog
Ben Crair
November 13, 2010

British Dictionary definitions for euthanize

euthanize

euthanise Austral euthanaze or euthanase (ˈjuːθəˌneɪz)

verb

(tr) to kill (a person or animal) painlessly, esp to relieve suffering from an incurable illness

Word Origin for euthanize

C20: back formation from euthanasia

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

Word Origin and History for euthanize

by 1915, in place of earlier and etymologically correct euthanatize (1873); see euthanasia + -ize. Related: Euthanized; euthanizing.