Vietnamize

[ vee-et-nuh-mahyz, vyet-, vee-it- ]

verb (used with object)

, Vi·et·nam·ized, Vi·et·nam·iz·ing.

1. to place under Vietnamese control or responsibility; subject to Vietnamization.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Vietnamize¹

First recorded in 1955–60; Vietnam + -ize

Example Sentences

So why did the IDF “Vietnamize” itself prior to the 1973 Yom Kippur War — a near-catastrophe that in some ways prefigured the devastating Hamas attack of early October?

From Salon

To start small, to show hesitation, to localize our response was to Vietnamize the situation.

From Time Magazine Archive

Having spent the last several years assuring the public that his government would Vietnamize the war and withdraw, Nixon felt obliged to renew the air war against the North Vietnamese to contain their attack.

From Time Magazine Archive

Subsequent shows chronicle the attempt to "Vietnamize" the conflict by withdrawing U.S. troops, the simultaneous expansion of the war to Cambodia and Laos, North Viet Nam's public relations triumph despite the military failure of its 1968 Tet offensive, the protracted peace negotiations, and the antiwar movement in the U.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

Morgenthau argued that while the Administration's plan to "Vietnamize" the war will "change the color of the casualties," its goal is still a military victory.

From Time Magazine Archive