Library / English Dictionary

CASTRATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction

Example:

eunuchs guarded the harem

Synonyms:

castrate; eunuch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("castrate" is a kind of...):

adult male; man (an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman))

Derivation:

castrate (remove the testicles of a male animal)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove the ovaries of

Example:

Is your cat spayed?

Synonyms:

alter; castrate; neuter; spay

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "castrate" is one way to...):

desex; desexualise; desexualize; fix; sterilise; sterilize; unsex (make infertile)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "castrate"):

defeminise; defeminize (remove the ovaries of (female mammals such as cats))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

castration (surgical removal of the testes or ovaries (usually to inhibit hormone secretion in cases of breast cancer in women or prostate cancer in men))

neutering (the sterilization of an animal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Remove the testicles of a male animal

Synonyms:

castrate; demasculinise; demasculinize; emasculate

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "castrate" is one way to...):

desex; desexualise; desexualize; fix; sterilise; sterilize; unsex (make infertile)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "castrate"):

caponise; caponize (convert a cock into a capon)

cut; geld (cut off the testicles (of male animals such as horses))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

castrate (a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction)

castration (neutering a male animal by removing the testicles)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate

Example:

bowdlerize a novel

Synonyms:

bowdlerise; bowdlerize; castrate; expurgate; shorten

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "castrate" is one way to...):

abbreviate; abridge; contract; cut; foreshorten; reduce; shorten (reduce in scope while retaining essential elements)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

castration (the deletion of objectionable parts from a literary work)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Deprive of strength or vigor

Example:

The Senate emasculated the law

Synonyms:

castrate; emasculate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "castrate" is one way to...):

weaken (lessen the strength of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Credits