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Showing results for devitalize. Search instead for hypervitalized.
Synonyms

devitalize

American  
[dee-vahyt-l-ahyz] / diˈvaɪt lˌaɪz /
especially British, devitalise

verb (used with object)

devitalized, devitalizing
  1. to deprive of vitality or vital properties; make lifeless; weaken.


devitalize British  
/ diːˈvaɪtəˌlaɪz /

verb

  1. (tr) to lower or destroy the vitality of; make weak or lifeless

    the war devitalized the economy

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of devitalize

First recorded in 1840–50; de- + vitalize

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:

This can devitalize the plant to the point of it starting to die back.

From Seattle Times Feb. 22, 2023

So this latter phenomenon physicians use to devitalize cancerous growths-and on the ovaries to bring on artificial menopause.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sometimes the impression of this diathesis is so intense as to devitalize the foetus in utero, causing still-birth.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

These shoots are useless, devitalize the vine, and hinder vineyard operations.

From Manual of American Grape-Growing by Hedrick, U. P.

His opinions, whatever they are, do not devitalize his fiction.

From The Critical Game by Macy, John Albert

She was a tennis-playing nutritionist with a master's in biochemistry who was a critic of processed, "devitalized" foods and advocated for vitamin supplements.

From Salon Sep. 17, 2023

Surgeons working on the case at UMC noted in the Sunday briefing that they had found only minimal amounts of "devitalized" brain matter and had already removed it.

From Scientific American Jan. 11, 2011

Giffords, a 40-year-old Democratic lawmaker, did not have severe bleeding in the brain nor large sections of devitalized brain tissue, Lemole said.

From Reuters Jan. 9, 2011

Lemole said that the amount of "devitalized" brain tissue that they removed was small.

From Washington Post Jan. 9, 2011

In the face of this it would require very strong negative testimony, indeed, to prove that the virus of rabies is devitalized in drying—a process which prolongs the vitality of other virulent matters.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

After painting for several years, he found himself distressed by "the devitalizing isolation of the studio."

From Time Magazine Archive

In the process thousands of hours of vital time were lost in conferences, argument and devitalizing hiatuses while heels and ardor cooled.

From Time Magazine Archive

In my opinion, this respect for and attempt to please this grossly ignorant French public is and has been one of the great devitalizing influences which hamper the French composer.

From Critical and Historical Essays Lectures delivered at Columbia University by Baltzell, W. J. (Winton James)

To a certain extent such rest, especially if associated with a state of very complete relaxation of the muscles, will make it possible to take less sleep without serious devitalizing results.

From Vitality Supreme by Macfadden, Bernarr

The utility of arsenious acid for devitalizing the dental pulp was discovered by J. R. Spooner of Montreal, and first published in 1836 by his brother Shearjashub in his Guide to Sound Teeth.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 2 "Demijohn" to "Destructor" by Various

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