Crossword Dictionary
EVISCERATE
eviscerate - v
remove the contents of; "eviscerate the stomach"
take away a vital or essential part of; "the compromise among the parties eviscerated the bill that had been proposed"
Synonyms
devitalize, gut, weaken
Examples
The censors eviscerated the book to make it inoffensive to the President.
Peggy the Hun would not eviscerate him and might even give him some credit for brains.
These were not the wizened and eviscerated pharaohs wrapped in yards of dusty gauze that one normally pictures when mummies are mentioned.
Etymology
"remove the entrails of, disembowel," c. 1600 (figurative); 1620s (literal), from Latin evisceratus, past participle of eviscerare "to disembowel," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + viscera "internal organs" (see viscera). Sometimes used 17c. in a figurative sense of "to bring out the deepest secrets of." Related: Eviscerated; eviscerating.