devocalize

English

Alternative forms

devocalise

Etymology

de- +‎ vocalize

Verb

devocalize (third-person singular simple present devocalizes, present participle devocalizing, simple past and past participle devocalized)

1. (transitive, phonetics) To make toneless; to deprive of vowel quality.
   • 1877, Henry Sweet, A Handbook of Phonetics:

     If we take a high vowel […] and devocalise it, we obtain a hiss […]

2. (transitive) To reduce the volume of the vocalizations of (an animal) by surgically removing tissue from its vocal cords.

   Synonyms: debark, disbark

Related terms

• devocalization

References

• “devocalize”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.