castrate

1 of 2

verb

cas·​trate ˈka-ˌstrāt 

castrated; castrating; castrates

transitive verb

1

a

: to deprive (a male animal or person) of the testes

The sexes of sheep are not ascertained by agriculturists until several months after birth, at the period when the males are castrated.

—Charles Darwin

… he has been able to perform works written for the castrati, the boys who were castrated before puberty in the mid-1500s in Europe so they could achieve ultra-high notes.

—Kerrie O'Brien

also, chiefly in technical contexts : to deprive (a female animal or person) of the ovaries

b

: to block the production of sex hormones in (a person) by the use of hormone therapy (see hormone therapy sense b) : to cause to undergo chemical castration

a drug used to chemically castrate sex offenders

Health care professionals treat advanced prostate cancer patients by reducing production of the hormone testosterone. … physicians may medically castrate patients, a non-surgical method that uses drugs such as synthetic luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists.

—San Diego Center for Urology Care

2

a

: to deprive of virility : emasculate

Throughout his writing life Hemingway constantly criticized and satirized Fitzgerald, whom he felt had been psychologically castrated by Zelda, couldn't hold his liquor, had no personal dignity, and publicly humiliated himself.

—Jeffrey Meyers

b

: to deprive of vitality, strength, or effectiveness

The bill was castrated by removal of the enforcement provisions.

… a barrage of questions about whether energy policy dictated by the White House would castrate the EPA's drive to clean up air pollution.

—Nature

castrator

ˈka-ˌstrā-tər 

noun

plural castrators

castratory

ˈka-strə-ˌtȯr-ē 

adjective

castrate

2 of 2

noun

plural castrates

: a castrated individual

Arango was a well-known celibate with a special devotion to St. Erasmus of Delft, the castrate.

—Donald Barthelme

Castration of meat-producing male animals has been widely used for a very long time, mainly for an easier control of their behaviour and the higher propensity of castrates to deposit fat, a commodity that has been in high demand until quite recently.

—Carrick Devine and M. Dikeman

Synonyms

Verb

• damp
• dampen
• deaden
• dehydrate
• desiccate
• devitalize
• enervate
• geld
• lobotomize
• petrify

Examples of castrate in a Sentence

Verb

Farmers castrated the bull calf.

a movie version that castrates the hard-hitting novel

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The most disturbing of them: Are the mothers castrating their young? —John Sharp | [e-mail], al, 29 June 2023

They could be branded, castrated, dismembered, or executed. —Matthew Hutson, The New Yorker, 21 July 2023

The protocol was to remove the testes – effectively castrating her. —David Oliver, USA TODAY, 28 June 2023

Their task was to castrate the stallion — a necessary surgery to keep the animal from becoming uncontrollable and a danger to its owner and to other animals. —Emiliano Rodríguez Mega Victor J. Blue, New York Times, 9 May 2023

In an attempt to keep the animals’ numbers from rising exponentially, local authorities have spent thousands of dollars sterilizing them, but the hippos are breeding faster than experts are able to find and castrate them. —Chloe Taylor, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2023

During the day, Hunter teaches the women how to castrate bulls — a skill this farmer's wife will need to know. —Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2023

Donalds does not indulge in histrionic speeches about mutilation and castrated children. —Laura Jedeed, The New Republic, 27 Mar. 2023

There was Tom comparing himself to the Emperor Nero, who killed his wife and then castrated and married his servant Sporus (Greg in this allegory). —Erica Gonzales, ELLE, 24 Mar. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Verb

borrowed from Latin castrātus, past participle of castrāre "to remove the testes of (a male animal), spay (a female animal), emasculate," probably derivative of a noun *castrum "knife, cutting instrument," going back to Indo-European *ḱ_əs-tro-, from *ḱ_əs-, zero-grade of *ḱes- "cut, cut off" + *-tr-, suffix of instruments; whence also, with presumed full grade, Sanskrit śástra- "knife, murder weapon"; from the base *ḱes- Sanskrit ví śasta "carved up," śāśá- "knife for butchering"

Note: Other words that have been attributed to Indo-European *ḱes- are Greek keázein, aorist keássai "to split," the formation of which is unclear; and the Slavic etymon exemplified by Russian kosá "scythe," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian kòsa (though this has also been compared with Russian kosój "slanting, oblique," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian kȍs).

Noun

derivative of castrate entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1554, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Noun

1639, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

castrate

verb

cas·​trate ˈkas-ˌtrāt 

castrated; castrating

: to remove the ovaries or especially the testes of

castration

ka-ˈstrā-shən 

noun

Medical Definition

castrate

1 of 2 transitive verb

cas·​trate ˈkas-ˌtrāt 

castrated; castrating

1

a

: to deprive (a male animal or person) of the testes

b

: to deprive (a female animal or person) of the ovaries

2

: to block the production of sex hormones in (a person) by the use of hormone therapy (see hormone therapy sense b) : to cause to undergo chemical castration

… chemically castrate patients to eliminate the [prostate] cancer's primary source of androgens.

—The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

castrator noun

also castrater

-ər 

castrate

2 of 2 noun

: a castrated individual