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Definitions

civilize

[siv-uh-lahyz] / ˈsɪv əˌlaɪz /


Example Sentences

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The idea that the Spanish arrived “to civilize is not one we should share.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026

By the fifth century BCE, some of the larger villages of Macedon grew big enough to be considered cities, and elite Macedonians made efforts to civilize their country in the style of the southern Greeks.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

Mara Nelson-Greenberg’s very dark comedy, about an empathy coach trying to civilize an unwoke collection agency, gives its final notice.

From New York Times • Apr. 18, 2019

You can civilize pungent shoes, too, with products that employ apple cider vinegar, cedar or charcoal to absorb rather than mask the acrid smell.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2018

Somewhere above, the rockets burned down to civilize a beautifully dead planet.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury




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