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

And nevertheless he desired at present to stay in it, even though for a few days, in order that he might gaze longer upon Panna Marynia and, as he called it, "further narcotize himself."

From Whirlpools A Novel of Modern Poland by Sienkiewicz, Henryk

The warm air and the glow of the beautiful rooms seemed to narcotize her, and Rose allowed herself to be led away like a sleepy child.

From Rose of Dutcher's Coolly by Garland, Hamlin

Giving, giving, eternal giving is bound to narcotize into sodden self-satisfaction, or at last to rouse to protest an awakening soul.

From Child Versus Parent Some Chapters on the Irrepressible Conflict in the Home by Wise, Stephen

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)