bowdlerizing

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.”

Example Sentences

But, as Samartzis admitted with a grin, bowdlerizing wind from the breeziest place in the world wasn’t very authentic.

From New York Times

Her 13th book of adult fiction is called “A Children’s Bible” — a clever self-undercutting that suggests an all-encompassing theory of everything while also promising simplicity, reduced scale, even a certain bowdlerizing.

From New York Times

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

From Literature

In that way of overprotective parents, I used to skip this passage, before my kids were old enough to catch me bowdlerizing.

From The New Yorker

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

From New York Times