civilize

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The institute’s young patients — who identify variously, including as a panda, squirrel and spider — endure therapies designed to tame and civilize them.

From New York Times • Dec. 2, 2021

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

But their aim is the same: to drag resplendent nature indoors to hyperbolize and civilize its beauty.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2018

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

Then Miss Philips went to school and told Mr. Crabtree that she had a plan to civilize the Herdmans or, at least, one of them.

From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson