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verbalize

[vur-buh-lahyz]
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verb (used with object), ver·bal·ized, ver·bal·iz·ing.
  1. to express in words: He couldn't verbalize his feelings.
  2. Grammar. to convert into a verb: to verbalize “butter” into “to butter.”
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verb (used without object), ver·bal·ized, ver·bal·iz·ing.
  1. to use many words; be verbose.
  2. to express something verbally.
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Also especially British, ver·bal·ise.

Origin of verbalize

1600–10; verbal + -ize; compare French verbaliser
Related formsver·bal·i·za·tion, nounver·bal·iz·er, nounnon·ver·bal·ized, adjectiveun·ver·bal·ized, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for verbalize

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • They wont have to wait for the Council to verbalize a measure.

    The Variable Man

    Philip K. Dick

  • It was getting tiresome to try to verbalize something she only felt.

    Omnilingual

    H. Beam Piper

  • It is induced in his hearers, and they verbalize it, re-enforcing it in themselves and in him.

    Naudsonce

    H. Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for verbalize

verbalize

verbalise

verb
  1. to express (an idea, feeling, etc) in words
  2. to change (any word that is not a verb) into a verb or derive a verb from (any word that is not a verb)
  3. (intr) to be verbose
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Derived Formsverbalization or verbalisation, nounverbalizer or verbaliser, noun
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 verbalize

v.

c.1600, "use too many words," from French verbaliser (16c.); see verbal. Meaning "express in words" is attested from 1875. Related: Verbalized; verbalizing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper