bowdlerizing

Cultural  

1. Amending a book by removing passages and words deemed obscene or objectionable (see obscenity). The name comes from Thomas Bowdler's 1818 edition of the plays of William Shakespeare, which was amended so that it could “be read aloud in a family.”

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Example Sentences

I also don’t think he was consciously bowdlerizing the song to make it more ‘‘appropriate’’ for me.

From New York Times • Oct. 14, 2015

When Televisa tried bowdlerizing the footage with a pro-government spin, he destroyed the tape and resigned, effectively blacklisting himself.

From New York Times • Sep. 25, 2015

All the candidates have taken what was once a very specific ideology and extracted their favorite parts, selectively interpreting the vision and generally bowdlerizing it.

From Washington Post • May 15, 2015

Note that, in railing against the bowdlerizing of the film's language, Ebert censored himself.

From Time • Apr. 4, 2011

But despite bowdlerizing content, my family has been entirely faithful about visiting.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen