desensitize

“One of the things that we teach them to do is to massage that over repeatedly throughout the day, to desensitize it,” April says.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2024

The pretreatment seemed to desensitize the animals to the hormone’s effects later on.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 13, 2023

“The perpetrators of this crime do so in the hope that it will harass and intimidate Jewish families, radicalize others, or desensitize some to the messaging,” the motion adds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2023

The simulations can help patients practice organizational and decision-making skills learned in cognitive behavioral therapy -- currently the standard treatment -- and desensitize them to the distress they feel when discarding.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2023

Then the treatment will desensitize it sufficiently and I can work on it without hurting you at all.'

From Cape Cod and All the Pilgrim Land, June 1922, Volume 6, Number 4 A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Interests of Southeastern Massachusetts by Various

“We hear stuff like this all the time. It just desensitizes you to there being an actual threat, knock on wood.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

“It desensitizes you to handcuffs, to steel, to concrete, to cold, to institutions,” said Roybal, now 38 and a physical therapist.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2023

In addition to killing cavity-causing bacteria, the treatment hardens tooth structure, desensitizes the tooth and even stops new cavities from forming.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 11, 2020

Regional anesthesia desensitizes a large section of someone’s body by injecting drugs into the spine that block nerve signals to the brain.

From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2014

Nadeau desensitizes allergic kids to allergens through exposure.

From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2013

Reactions to other recent reports have been muted as well, with investors seemingly desensitized to Nvidia’s big numbers.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 23, 2026

Or maybe, through repeated exposure, Americans have been desensitized to the burden that unnecessary complexity imposes on us.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026

Investors have become desensitized to risk as the 2008-09 financial crisis fades from memory, Block believes.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2025

We’ve become desensitized to the ritual by now, but slobbering over an elected official—of any stripe—is, and always will be, unbecoming.

From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2025

In the process, we have become desensitized to art as well.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Saturating audiences with doomsday stories risks desensitizing them, Nelson warned.

From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2026

Skylar King, who’s performing at the show, said she had a week of long conversations with her fellow performers on how to joke about climate change without desensitizing people to the seriousness of the topic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2024

Leprosy primarily affects the skin and peripheral nervous system, causing physical deformity and desensitizing one’s ability to feel pain on affected skin.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2024

Trainers begin by desensitizing the chimps to the sound, doling out bananas, Cheerios or other treats as it plays.

From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

But this morning I noticed a real improvement when I went through the massage and desensitizing routine.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen