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bowdlerism

 - 3 dictionary results

bowd⋅ler⋅ize

  [bohd-luh-rahyz, boud-]
Use bowdlerism in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -ized, -iz⋅ing.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
Also, especially British, bowd⋅ler⋅ise.

Origin:
1830–40; after Thomas Bowdler (1754–1825), English editor of an expurgated edition of Shakespeare

Related forms:
bowd⋅ler⋅ism, noun
bowd⋅ler⋅i⋅za⋅tion, noun
bowd⋅ler⋅iz⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To bowdlerism
bowd·ler·ize   (bōd'lə-rīz', boud'-)   
tr.v.   bowd·ler·ized, bowd·ler·iz·ing, bowd·ler·iz·es
To remove material that is considered offensive or objectionable from (a book, for example).

[After Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare in 1818.]
bowd'ler·ism n., bowd'ler·i·za'tion (-lər-ĭ-zā'shən) n., bowd'ler·iz'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

bowdlerize 
1836, from Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), English editor who in 1818 published a notorious expurgated Shakespeare, "in which those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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