neutralize

English

Alternative forms

• neutralise (non-Oxford British English)

Etymology

From French neutraliser (first attested in 1642). By surface analysis, neutral +‎ -ize.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuːtɹəlaɪz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnutɹəˌlaɪz/

• Audio (US)

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Verb

neutralize (third-person singular simple present neutralizes, present participle neutralizing, simple past and past participle neutralized)

1. (transitive) To make even, inactive or ineffective.

   Synonyms: counteract, counterweigh

   The antidote neutralised the toxin.

2. (transitive) To make (a territory, etc.) politically neutral.
   • 1965, United States. Congress. Senate, Hearings, volume 1, page 77:

     All the powers involved are committed not only to stay out of a given territory, but also to reenter it if any one of them violates the independence of the neutralized country.

3. (transitive, chemistry) To make (an acidic or alkaline substance) chemically neutral.
4. (transitive, military, euphemistic) To kill.
   • 2019, “Mass Effect (Trilogy)”, in Michael M. Levy, Farah Mendlesohn, editors, Aliens in Popular Culture‎, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 175:

     At the beginning of the opening game, Shepard becomes the first human Spectre, an elite operative given broad authority to neutralize threats to galactic order in the galaxy.

   • 2023 October 17, Lisa O'Carroll, Miranda Bryant, Lorenzo Tondo, quoting Alexander De Croo, “Killing of two Swedish football fans in Brussels ‘probably lone wolf’ attack”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     “We managed to neutralise the guilty person. So there was no longer any imminent threat,” De Croo said, […]

Derived terms

Translations

References

Portuguese

Verb

neutralize

1. inflection of neutralizar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative