It means to take a great work of literature and censor it to death by removing all references to anything offensive. The word comes from a "kid-friendly" edition of Shakespeare produced by a Mr. Bowdler (with the unacknowledged assistance of his sister) in 1807. The Bowdlers made a point, for example, of completely deleting the character of the prostitute Doll Tearsheet in Henry IV Part 2.
Bowdlerize is defined as the removal of material that is considered improper or in an offensive from. This occurs more commonly when something becomes less effective.
The Victorians liked to bowdlerize Latin and Greek literature as they believed much of it was obscene and corrupted the young.
To bowdlerize is to remove parts of literary works. An example sentence would be: It would be offensive to bowdlerize a Shakespeare work.
Some people with strong moral beliefs bowdlerize questions and answers on this site, which they believe to be indecent. Attempts were made to bowdlerize the story to remove its references to drug addiction, which the editors thought would hurt its public appeal.
ban. Also: expurgate, cut, blue-pencil, bowdlerize
He bowdlerized my novel because he felt it was too explicit.
To expurgate, as a book, by omitting or modifying the parts considered offensive. It is a grave defect in the splendid tale of Tom Jones . . . that a Bowlderized version of it would be hardly intelligible as a tale. F. Harrison. -- Bowd`leriza"tion (#), n. --Bowd"ler*ism (#), n.
The definition of a material world is a fake world.
Cleanse is the odd word because it is not about "cutting off" something.
which of the following phrases is the best definition of the world map
The editor had to bowdlerize a part of the book, because there were some inappropriate words used that weren't suitable for kids under a certain age.
World Health Organization.