as in to reduce
to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling
time had cauterized his bitterness, and he was willing to let bygones be bygones
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Recent Examples of cauterize
For patients deemed female, excess flesh could be cut away, and for patients deemed male, the vulva could be cauterized to close it.
—
Sarah Barringer, The Conversation, 18 Feb. 2025
All of his attempts to cut away his past, to cauterize himself and separate himself from it, would fail.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Nov. 2024
For patients deemed female, excess flesh could be cut away, and for patients deemed male, the vulva could be cauterized to close it.
—Sarah Barringer, The Conversation, 18 Feb. 2025
This brought to mind a discovery made by Ambroise Paré.
Paré, who lived from 1510 to 1590, worked on the battlefields of France, and was taught to cauterize gunshot wounds with boiling oil.
—The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cauterize
Sarah Barringer, The Conversation, 18 Feb. 2025
All of his attempts to cut away his past, to cauterize himself and separate himself from it, would fail.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Nov. 2024
For patients deemed female, excess flesh could be cut away, and for patients deemed male, the vulva could be cauterized to close it.
—Sarah Barringer, The Conversation, 18 Feb. 2025
This brought to mind a discovery made by Ambroise Paré.
Paré, who lived from 1510 to 1590, worked on the battlefields of France, and was taught to cauterize gunshot wounds with boiling oil.
—The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cauterize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cauterize
Verb
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Over the past year, the co-CEOs have executed a plan to shave off $500 million in costs, sell off assets and reduce a workforce by more than 15 percent as Paramount shifts ownership.—
Erik Hayden,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
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Those fine particles can stick together tightly, reducing pore space for water to move through or percolate.—
Andy Wilcox,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The spread of open-source blunts monopolistic tendencies and democratizes innovation, a major check against doomer fears.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
11 Aug. 2025
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State Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, agrees with Ritter that the spending cap can’t be an obstacle to Connecticut tapping its flush coffers to blunt the pain of federal cuts.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Repeatedly returning to themes of globalization and alienation, the 55-year-old director has meticulously chronicled his country’s uneasy plunge into the 21st century as rampant industrialization risks deadening those left behind.—
Tim Grierson,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2025
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By Richard Assheton Read On Little Britain The Breakfast Clubs America’s morning television brightens the day but deadens the soul.—
airmail.news,
airmail.news,
5 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Still, that venue-filling sound doesn’t dull the music’s bleeding edge.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
12 Aug. 2025
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While short-term boosts are possible, too much artificial stimulation can dull the natural response over time.—
Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
2 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Give ample space to large vehicles - Trucks or buses can create a water spray that diminishes visibility.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Aug. 2025
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The transit systems that give independence to hundreds of thousands of people living with disabilities will be severely diminished.—
Karen Tamley,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Because both actors look like lumpish proletarian versions of Ingmar Bergman stars — Alma Pöysti, radiant yet benumbed, plays Ansa like a dish-towel Bibi Andersson, and Jussi Vatanen could be the schlump brother of Max von Sydow (with a dollop of Ryan Gosling).—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
23 May 2023
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What’s destructive, and eventually benumbing, is the kitchen-sink clutter of fantasy, reality, wish-fulfillment and glib enchantment.—
Joe Morgenstern,
WSJ,
24 Jan. 2019
Verb
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For Trump, whose political brand has long relied on projecting authenticity to his base, a sustained decline in honesty ratings could weaken his ability to roll out his agenda.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025
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This means banana particles can remain between teeth for an extended period, giving bacteria more time to produce acids that weaken tooth enamel.14 6.—
Lindsay Curtis,
Verywell Health,
13 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cauterize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cauterize. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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