narcotize

American  

[nahr-kuh-tahyz] / ˈnɑr kəˌtaɪz /

especially British, narcotise

verb (used with object)

narcotized, narcotizing

1. to subject to or treat with a narcotic; stupefy.

2. to make dull; stupefy; deaden the awareness of.

   He had used liquor to narcotize his anxieties.

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verb (used without object)

narcotized, narcotizing

1. to act as a narcotic.

   a remedy that does not heal but merely narcotizes.

narcotize British  

/ ˈnɑːkəˌtaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to place under the influence of a narcotic drug

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Other Word Forms

• narcotization
  noun

Etymology

Origin of narcotize

First recorded in 1835–45; narcot(ic) + -ize

Example Sentences

Actually the soaps do not kill bacteria, they permanently "narcotize" the germs.

From Time Magazine Archive

They fascinate even when they excite, and soothe and narcotize in the communication of their subtle power.

From A Trooper Galahad by King, Charles

By day and by night I was surrounded with influence intended to beguile me from the past, to narcotize memory, to make me in reality the heartless, soulless, scoffing creature that I certainly seem.

From Infelice by Evans, Augusta J. (Augusta Jane)

There have been.—Lawrence!" the scent of the honeysuckle pinned into her blouse seemed to narcotize all his senses with its irresistible sweetness, "you will be true to me, won't you?

From Nightfall by Pryde, Anthony

They appeared to me, though, as if pursuing something beyond Gain, which should narcotize or stimulate them to forget that man's life was a vain going to and fro.

From The Morgesons by Stoddard, Elizabeth