Definition of "eviscerate" []

• To remove the entrails of; disembowel. (verb-transitive)
• To take away a vital or essential part of: a compromise that eviscerated the proposed bill. (verb-transitive)
• Medicine To remove the contents of (an organ). (verb-transitive)
• Medicine To remove an organ, such as an eye, from (a patient). (verb-transitive)
• Medicine To protrude through a wound or surgical incision. (verb-intransitive)

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.

• "The Florida pastor, author and talk show host wants to outlaw abortion, abolish the IRS and Federal Reserve, and "eviscerate" federal programs such as Social Security."
• "FICTION: The NAB claims that devices operating on adjacent television channels will "eviscerate" digital TV signals"
• "I had to look up "eviscerate" ... it means to disembowel."