-ize

To take military troops out of active service, typically at the end of a war: Jim was a veteran who was demobilized, or released, from martial duty at the end of World War II, which was a war that lasted from 1939 to 1945.

1. To discourage someone; to lose hope or confidence in something: It demoralized and disheartened Mildred to see her elderly mother so extremely sick and terribly weak.
2. To corrupt in a moral sense; to debauch: Some parents are very anxious that R-rated movies might demoralize their children with the result that they would lose their awareness of what is right and what is wrong. © ALL rights are reserved.

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To transfer an industry or institution from a public to a private ownership: Instead of having the firm owned by the government, it was denationalized and changed to an independent and nonpublic-enterprise.

To reduce an odor; especially, of offensive or bad odors: Marilyn had her carpet cleaned and deodorized after her cat messed it up by urinating on it one day.

To give someone the authority to take the place of another person and so to function as a substitute: At some hospitals, they have a system that deputizes the nurses to perform some of the same duties as the physicians.

To decrease one's physical sensation or feeling, to deaden, or to anesthetize parts of the body: The doctor was desensitizing Jim's arm before removing the lump that was causing him so much pain.

To cause something to happen at different times: To desynchronize is to prevent things from being done at the same time and speed.

For example, the mechanics at Tom's local automobile shop desynchronize their work, or automatically take care of the various vehicles at different times.

1. To convert an image, a graph, or other data into information for processing on a computer: The publishers of the local newspaper digitized it so it could be read on smartphones and tablets.
2. To manipulate or to treat in some way with the fingers: Jack used a pencil to digitize the information he wanted to keep on a note pad because he didn't have a computer!

To make an agreement that often causes unhappiness or trouble: Financial problems often disharmonize people, such as when a husband and a wife do not agree about how to spend their financial income.

To deify or to make godly as a result of treating someone like a god or goddess: Some people divinize certain politicians, entertainers, or friends as a reason to enjoy their existence even more!

1. To produce a book, an event, an activity, etc. into a play, a movie, a television show, etc.: The book that Sam was reading has been dramatized or turned into special dramas on TV.
2. To make a situation seem to be more important or serious than it really is: Adam said that he knew that he might be dramatizing what had happened with his car at the parking lot when he was shopping, but the dent he was dramatizing about was very small and could hardly be seen!

To supply with electronic equipment: One of the most important parts of constructing living places for people is to electronize the apartments, condos, or houses with door bells and outlets.

To understand another person's situations, feelings, and difficulties: When Elizabeth could not complete her assignment on time at work, her co-workers empathized with her and helped her get it done as expected by her supervisor.

To give a summary of a written work or some condition: The teacher had the students epitomize Shakespeare's story about "Julius Caesar".

The doctor epitomized his patient's physical illness as being healable, and healthy again in two weeks.

© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

To force an evil spirit, or an unpleasant or painful memory to leave someone: Jim was watching a movie about a priest who was trying to exorcize a demon from a young girl.

Last Sunday, a preacher strived to exorcize and to drive out the devil and supernatural beings from all of his church attendees with prayers to God.

In the story Jeff was reading, the girls decided to exorcize the spooky apparitions from the garden by singing chants and walking in circles!