pulverize
[puhl-vuh-rahyz]
- to reduce to dust or powder, as by pounding or grinding.
- to demolish or crush completely.
- Slang. to defeat, hurt badly, or, figuratively, render helpless: The Kid pulverized Jackson with a series of brutal lefts. He's a veteran nightclub comic who can pulverize any audience in seconds.
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- to become reduced to dust.
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Also especially British, pul·ver·ise.
Origin of pulverize
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pulverise
Historical Examples
He rose at once in his anger to answer him, to smash and pulverise him.
It is so soft that a gentle touch is sufficient to pulverise it.
The Jenolan CavesSamuel Cook
He says the mills of the gods grind slowly, but they pulverise middling fine.
RemarksBill Nye
Pulverise and mix, and place in a retort of such size that the above matters will only half fill it.
The Memoires of Casanova, CompleteJacques Casanova de Seingalt
High explosive of the kind the Germans use will pulverise the parapet of a trench and kill every one within reach.
On Land And Sea At The DardanellesThomas Charles Bridges
pulverize
pulverise
- to reduce (a substance) to fine particles, as by crushing or grinding, or (of a substance) to be so reduced
- (tr) to destroy completely; defeat or injure seriously
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Word Origin
C16: from Late Latin pulverizare or French pulvériser, from Latin pulverum, from pulvis dust
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 pulverise
pulverize
v.
early 15c., from Late Latin pulverizare "reduce to powder or dust," from Latin pulvis (genitive pulveris) "dust, powder" (see pollen). Related: Pulverized; pulverizing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper