tranquilize
Americanverb (used with or without object)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tranquilize
Explanation
If your cat Fluffy seems dazed after a visit to the vet, it’s probably because the vet had to tranquilize her. In other words, Fluffy was given a drug to calm her down or make her sleep. When doctors tranquilize a patient, it's usually to calm or relax the person before a medical procedure or after some trauma. It's more common to hear the verb tranquilize in the context of animal medicine or encounters with wild animals. For example, if a bear wanders into a suburban neighborhood, officials might use a dart gun to tranquilize it; they can then safely capture and relocate the bear. The root word, tranquil, comes from the Latin tranquillus, meaning "quiet."
Vocabulary lists containing tranquilize
The Battle of the Labyrinth
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Endangered
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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:
They were joined by San Francisco police and staff from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the San Francisco Zoo, who helped to tranquilize the animal, officials said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026
Since then, local forest authorities are trying to tranquilize the remaining cheetahs to check for any diseases.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
This let police, along with a veterinarian from the National Zoo and animal welfare activists from the Humane Rescue Alliance, tranquilize the bear at 10:15 a.m.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
India's Supreme Court said that efforts must be made to tranquilize the animal before killing it.
From Salon ● May 18, 2022
All she had done today was tranquilize a few dogs.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
There are also frequent mountain lion sightings in and around Los Angeles, including recent incidents in Santa Monica and Pasadena where lions were tranquilized and removed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The animal was tranquilized again, then moved to a bear trap that had been placed on a trailer, the news outlet reported.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
The Japanese macaque, who some had nicknamed “Kingussie Kong,” was caught and tranquilized Thursday morning, after a member of public called a hotline to report it was eating from a bird feeder in their garden.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
FWC personnel were called to assist, and they safely tranquilized and captured the panther, according to WBBH-TV.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 5, 2023
“Nanuq here was tranquilized and spent a month in Polar Bear Jail before being released back into the wild,” George explained.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
There, the researchers count bears, tranquilizing and tagging some to collect data about their health.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 4, 2022
Comprised of keratin — the substance in human fingernails — rhino horn can grow back after it is trimmed, an operation that entails tranquilizing the animal.
From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2021
Tender but emphatic, Kong’s effect is equal parts fearsome and tranquilizing; in this stage version, we come to see the kinship between Kong and Ann not as a study in opposites but in shared alienation.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 19, 2018
In central Idaho, volunteers earlier this month rescued a horse stranded on a snowy mountain by tranquilizing it, placing it in a sling and then attaching it on a long line to a helicopter.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2017
When the public protests, confronted with some obvious evidence of damaging results of pesticide applications, it is fed little tranquilizing pills of half truth.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
