Definition of "galvanize" []

• To stimulate or shock with an electric current. (verb-transitive)
• To arouse to awareness or action; spur: "Issues that once galvanized the electorate fade into irrelevance” ( Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.) (verb-transitive)
• To coat (iron or steel) with rust-resistant zinc. (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.

• "Perhaps SIV was waiting for some event or announcement to once again galvanize people into marching."
• "Chief Warren Riley and Mayor Ray Nagins call for residents to galvanize is an insult."
• "UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I am not so much worried as I am excited about by the whole drama of this, and I think in one way it is good for the country because it brings a lot of people and focuses their attention on this, and helps kind of galvanize the whole youth and the rest of ..."