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comstocker

 - 2 dictionary results

Com⋅stock⋅er⋅y

  [kuhm-stok-uh-ree, kom-]
Use comstocker in a Sentence
–noun
overzealous moral censorship of the fine arts and literature, often mistaking outspokenly honest works for salacious ones.
Origin:
1900–05; after A. Comstock; see -ery

Related forms:
Comstocker, noun
Com⋅stock⋅i⋅an, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

Comstockery 
1905, from Anthony Comstock (1844-1915), founder of New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (1873) and self-appointed crusader against immorality. Coined by George Bernard Shaw after Comstock objected to "Mrs. Warren's Profession." "Comstockery is the world's standing joke at the expense of the United States" [Shaw, "New York Times," Sept. 26, 1905]. The mining sense is from Comstock lode, silver vein in Nevada, discovered 1859 and first worked by U.S. prospector H.T.P. Comstock (1820-70).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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