cheap·en

[chee-puhn]
verb (used with object)
1.
to make cheap or cheaper.
2.
to lower in esteem; bring into contempt: Constant swearing cheapened him.
3.
to decrease the quality or beauty of; make inferior or vulgar: She cheapened the dress by adding a fringe to it.
4.
Archaic. to bargain for.
verb (used without object)
5.
to become cheap or cheaper.
00:10
Cheapen is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

Origin:
1555–65; cheap + -en1; replacing Middle English chepen (> obsolete English cheap (v.)) to price, bargain, Old English cēapian to bargain, trade, buy; cognate with Old Norse kaupa, Gothic kaupōn, German kaufen

cheap·en·er, noun
un·cheap·ened, adjective
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
cheapen (ˈtʃiːpən) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
1.  to make or become lower in reputation, quality, etc; degrade or be degraded
2.  to make or become cheap or cheaper
 
'cheapener
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Example sentences
Secondly, the use of forms itself serves to cheapen the profession in the eyes
  of the public.
Anonymous sources are necessary for some stories but also cheapen the currency
  when they creep into others casually.
The new methods and new machinery cheapen the iron, the old methods keep up the
  price of meat and hogs and steers.
They have done nothing to deserve this treatment, and damaged trees cheapen the
  natural experience for others.
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