to exorcize
2
8.3
- verb
- /ˈɛksɔrˌsaɪz/
- US
- After much prayer, they successfully exorcized the troublesome demon from the afflicted man.
- exorcize demons
Examples
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There was for him adventure and dignity in helping Germans face their recent past and in some way to exorcise their demons.
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Several Muslim women in conservative headscarves lined up with Christians to have demons exorcized by the priests.
Blog text (21) -
What we need to do is to find out its name in order to exorcize it.
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So just try to exorcise his demons.
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I have exorcized the demons!
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Sexton's therapist told her to write poetry as a way to exorcize her rage.
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And by destroying the mirror, you've exorcized the ghost once and for all.
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Mr. Lauder, am I mistaken... or did you agree that my team and I... would photograph and exorcize the Lauder House ghost?
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Cobb's demons were not merely exorcized on the baseball field; they spilled over into all parts of his miserable life.
Fiction book (1994) -
When the other members of the Jesus movement went out, they too exorcized, healed, and taught (see Lk 9:1-2; 10:16-17).
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
27
6.1
Make a thought or feeling go away so it stops bothering you
How Forceful
Surface Forms
Morphology
exorcize = exorcism (transparent) = exorc + ize
The verb is readily interpretable as a verb-forming -ize added to the familiar noun 'exorcism' meaning to perform an exorcism.
Etymology
Exorcize comes from the old parts ex- 'out' and orkos, which is like the English oath and means 'a promise'. Long ago it meant making a spirit promise to go away, so today to exorcize is to drive an evil spirit out of a person or place.