censor
an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds.
any person who supervises the manners or morality of others.
an adverse critic; faultfinder.
(in the ancient Roman republic) either of two officials who kept the register or census of the citizens, awarded public contracts, and supervised manners and morals.
(in early Freudian dream theory) the force that represses ideas, impulses, and feelings, and prevents them from entering consciousness in their original, undisguised forms.
to examine and act upon as a censor.
to delete (a word or passage of text) in one's capacity as a censor.
Origin of censor
1Other words from censor
- cen·sor·a·ble, adjective
- cen·so·ri·al [sen-sawr-ee-uhl, -sohr-], /sɛnˈsɔr i əl, -ˈsoʊr-/, cen·so·ri·an, adjective
- an·ti·cen·so·ri·al, adjective
- non·cen·sored, adjective
- o·ver·cen·sor, verb (used with object)
- pre·cen·sor, verb (used with object)
- re·cen·sor, verb (used with object)
- un·cen·sor·a·ble, adjective
- un·cen·sored, adjective
Words that may be confused with censor
Words Nearby censor
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use censor in a sentence
The studio seemed to be satisfied with the results—although still opted to censor the death sequence in many foreign territories.
Exclusive: Sony Emails Say State Department Blessed Kim Jong-Un Assassination in ‘The Interview’ | William Boot | December 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTStill, was it possible that Russian authorities could censor the Internet and make Meduza inaccessible for Russian readers?
The attempts to censor news in Mainland China about the protests backfired.
Chinese Tourists Are Taking Hong Kong Protest Selfies | Brendon Hong | October 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTActivists still have to reach the site on their own, escaping efforts to censor or monitor the internet in their home countries.
Should the company censor conversations around such gun photographs, banning talk of a sale or a price?
People Are Using Instagram to Sell Their Guns...and It’s Mostly Legal | Brian Ries | October 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
I do not care very much how you censor or select the reading and talking and thinking of the schoolboy or schoolgirl.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) WellsAnd that treatise of Van de Water, the Belgian, on the sublimation of the sub-conscious by the negation of the self-censor.
The Government Film censor interprets his role chiefly as one of guiding parents.
Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents | Oswald Chettle Mazengarb et al.It is not part of the censor's duty to see that his rulings are observed.
Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents | Oswald Chettle Mazengarb et al.His very appointment as censor was due to the bottle-acquaintance that had sprung up with the regent Prince of Wales.
A Cursory History of Swearing | Julian Sharman
British Dictionary definitions for censor
/ (ˈsɛnsə) /
a person authorized to examine publications, theatrical presentations, films, letters, etc, in order to suppress in whole or part those considered obscene, politically unacceptable, etc
any person who controls or suppresses the behaviour of others, usually on moral grounds
(in republican Rome) either of two senior magistrates elected to keep the list of citizens up to date, control aspects of public finance, and supervise public morals
psychoanal the postulated factor responsible for regulating the translation of ideas and desires from the unconscious to the conscious mind: See also superego
to ban or cut portions of (a publication, film, letter, etc)
to act as a censor of (behaviour, etc)
Origin of censor
1Derived forms of censor
- censorable, adjective
- censorial (sɛnˈsɔːrɪəl), adjective
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
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