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Definition of "neutralize" []

  • To make neutral. (verb-transitive)
  • To counterbalance or counteract the effect of; render ineffective. (verb-transitive)
  • To declare neutral and therefore inviolable during a war. (verb-transitive)
  • Chemistry To make (a solution) neutral. (verb-transitive)
  • Chemistry To cause (an acid or base) to undergo neutralization. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "neutralize" in a sentence
  • "The freedom of the press should be thus far restricted; so that when a man publicly proclaims through the far-sounding trumpet of the newspaper, he should be answerable for it, at any rate with his honor, if he has any; and if he has none, let his name neutralize the effect of his words."
  • "(However, while ominous in tone, the term "neutralize" -- as used by government agents -- was never really defined.)"
  • "Are we really going to stay in Iraq until we "neutralize" -- i.e. blow to pieces or imprison in Abu Ghraib -- every Iraqi who isn't keen on our notion of a unified, multi-sectarian, pro American, pro Western, anti-Islamist Iraq?"