castrate

cas·trate | \ ˈka-ˌstrāt

castrated; castrating

Definition of castrate

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : 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 The infamous Emperor Nero was said to have had one of his slaves castrated by his surgeons.— Joanne Nadol also, chiefly in technical contexts : to deprive (a female animal or person) of the ovaries

2a : to render impotent a drug used to chemically castrate sex offenders

b : 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

c : 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

castrate

noun

plural castrates

Definition of castrate (Entry 2 of 2)

: 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

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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 Members of the lynch mob cut off Hose’s ears and fingers one by one before castrating him. — James Forman Jr., The Atlantic, "A History of Violence," 3 Sep. 2017 It's revealed that the men in the cult aren't allowed to masturbate, a policy which closely mirrors the rules of David Koresh's cult (Koresh fathered all of the children in the cult, and had every male member castrated). — Amy Mackelden, Harper's BAZAAR, "American Horror Story: Cult Episode 9 Was About Kai's Grand Cult Ambitions," 1 Nov. 2017 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said Trump’s comments were the equivalent of castrating the secretary in public. — Fortune, "Rex Tillerson Downplays His Tensions with President Trump," 15 Oct. 2017 Samson was castrated and converted to Islam and became Hassan Aga the Chief Eunuch and Treasurer to the Ottoman ruler of Algiers. — Jerry Brotton, The Atlantic, "The First Brexit Was Theological," 13 Sep. 2017 Suranart brought in a team of veterinarians to trap males and then castrate them. — James Hookway, WSJ, "Thai Navy’s Secret Weapon Against Marauding Monkeys: Vasectomies," 9 Aug. 2017 The expensive and easily injured animals are often castrated to improve their tempers. — Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, "How Mule Racing Led to Mule Cloning," 4 May 2017 And here one is tempted to muse on the risks of direct democracy and the perilous downsides of castrating expertise while empowering the unwashed masses. — Seth Stevenson, Slate Magazine, "The future of sports just might be the Screaming Eagles, a football team controlled by fans with smartphones.," 17 Feb. 2017 Yoshikawa also has to have enough castrated bulls with the right temperament to handle a harness, all between 3 and 7 years old — the ideal age, according to Yoshikawa. — Kelsey Lindsey, Alaska Dispatch News, "Scientist looks to be ‘Japanese Santa,’ mushing reindeer across tundra," 28 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'castrate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Castrate.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/castrate. Accessed 18 January 2020.

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More Definitions for castrate

castrate

verb

English Language Learners Definition of castrate

: to remove the testes of (a person or animal)

See the full definition for castrate in the English Language Learners Dictionary

castrate

verb

cas·trate | \ ˈka-ˌstrāt

castrated; castrating

Kids Definition of castrate

: to remove the sex glands of

castrate

transitive verb

cas·trate | \ ˈkas-ˌtrāt

castrated; castrating

Medical Definition of castrate

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : to deprive of the testes : geld

b : to deprive of the ovaries : spay

2 : to render impotent or deprive of vitality especially by psychological means uses these ideas…as an instrument to castrate and destroy him— Harold Clurman