Nearby Words

emasculate

[v. ih-mas-kyuh-leyt; adj. ih-mas-kyuh-lit, -leyt] Example Sentences Origin

e·mas·cu·late

[v. ih-mas-kyuh-leyt; adj. ih-mas-kyuh-lit, -leyt] verb, -lat·ed, -lat·ing, adjective
verb (used with object)
1.
to castrate.
2.
to deprive of strength or vigor; weaken.
adjective
3.
deprived of or lacking strength or vigor; effeminate.

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Emasculate is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
to bark; yelp.
to run away hurriedly; flee.

Origin:
1600–10; < Latin ēmasculātus (past participle of ēmasculāre), equivalent to ē- e- + māscul(us) male + -ātus -ate1

e·mas·cu·la·tion, noun
e·mas·cu·la·tive, adjective
e·mas·cu·la·tor, noun
e·mas·cu·la·to·ry [ih-mas-kyuh-luh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] , adjective
self-e·mas·cu·la·tion, noun
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un·e·mas·cu·lat·ed, adjective
un·e·mas·cu·la·tive, adjective
un·e·mas·cu·la·to·ry, adjective
COLLAPSE


2. debilitate, undermine, devitalize, soften.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To emasculate
Example Sentences
  • Atrazine in the water has been shown to chemically emasculate frogs, turning healthy males into hermaphrodites.
  • The government would probably not have had to emasculate its new measures with clumsy compromises.
  • Those guys want to emasculate men in any possible imaginable way.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
emasculate
 
vb
1.  to remove the testicles of; castrate; geld
2.  to deprive of vigour, effectiveness, etc
3.  botany to remove the stamens from (a flower) to prevent self-pollination for the purposes of plant breeding
 
adj
4.  castrated; gelded
5.  deprived of strength, effectiveness, etc
 
[C17: from Latin ēmasculāre, from masculus male; see masculine]
 
emascu'lation
 
n
 
e'masculative
 
adj
 
e'masculatory
 
adj
 
e'masculator
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

emasculate
1607, from L. emasculatus, pp. of emasculare "castrate," from ex- "out, away" + masculus "male" (see masculine). Originally and usually in the fig. sense.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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