galvanize
English
Alternative forms
- galvanise (mostly UK)
Etymology
From French galvaniser, from galvanisme, after Italian physiologist Luigi Aloisio Galvani (1737–1798).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡælvənaɪ̯z/
Verb
galvanize (third-person singular simple present galvanizes, present participle galvanizing, simple past and past participle galvanized)
- (transitive, chiefly Canada, US, chemistry) To coat with a thin layer of metal by electrochemical means; to electroplate.
- (transitive, chiefly Canada, US) To coat with rust-resistant zinc.
- (transitive, chiefly Canada, US) To shock or stimulate into sudden activity (as if with an electric shock)
- The girl’s picture, along with an audio file of crying children that was given to reporters, helped galvanize public opinion against the administration’s policy.
- Republicans are hoping a proposed gas-tax repeal and anger over illegal immigration will galvanize their voters.
- (transitive, archaic) To electrify.
- Thomas Babington Macaulay
- The agitations resembled the grinnings and writhings of a galvanized corpse, not the struggles of an athletic man.
- Thomas Babington Macaulay
- (transitive, dated, American Civil War) To switch sides between Union and Confederate.
- 1998, Tony Horwitz, Confederates in the Attic, 1st Vintage Departures edition, Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 10:
- Reenactors called this “galvanizing,” the Civil War term for soldiers who switched sides during the conflict.
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Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to coat with rust-resistant zinc
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to coat with a thin layer of metal by electrochemical means
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to shock or stimulate into sudden activity
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Portuguese
Verb
galvanize
- first-person singular present subjunctive of galvanizar
- third-person singular present subjunctive of galvanizar
- first-person singular imperative of galvanizar
- third-person singular imperative of galvanizar
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