✂️ To remove organs 🪫 To weaken 🚹 A neutered man ✏️ To censor

to castrate

1 9.3

To remove parts of a book or film to make it less offensive

verb
/ˈkæstreɪt/

: censurar

The publisher decided to castrate the memoir to make it suitable for schools.

Examples

Many authors feel their work is often castrated by strict publishing guidelines.
The editor decided to castrate the manuscript for inappropriate content.
Many classic novels have been castrated for younger audiences over the years.
Some critics claim the movie was castrated by censors before its release.
The editor decided to castrate the passage to make the book suitable for all audiences.
To avoid controversy, she chose to castrate the offensive parts from the original text.
Many songs are castrated for radio play to remove explicit language.

Synonyms

to expurgate

vsto castrate

1 9.6

Change parts of a book, play or text to remove words people find offensive

means the same editorial removal without implying a weakened outcome

to bowdlerize

vsto castrate

Literature

1 9.9

Remove or change parts of a work because they may upset people

describes the same editing but stresses removal without weakening implication

Antonyms

to preserve

496 3.4

To keep people and things safe from harm or change

How Censored

to castrate

1 9.3

to bowdlerize

Literature

1 9.9

to censor

514 5.2

to redact

Formal

35 7.5

to edit

337 1.5

Surface Forms

castrate infinitive

castrated past

castrated past participle

castrating present participle

castrates third person singular

Morphology

castrate = castr + ate

The editorial sense ('to remove or soften parts of a text') is a figurative extension of the literal meaning and therefore somewhat inferable from the base sense, though the morphemes are not transparent.

Etymology

Castrate in the sense of editing comes from the same Latin castrare meaning 'to cut', so to castrate a text is to 'cut out' or change parts that are seen as offensive or too strong.