MEANING
1. To make a force, influence, or effect ineffective by acting against it.
2. To react an acid with a base so that their acidic and basic properties counteract each other.
3. To render an opposing force, position, or individual unable to act effectively.
Use it for
describing one influence canceling another; explaining why an expected effect does not appear; distinguishing removal of an effect from partial weakeningDescribes canceling or disabling an effect rather than merely reducing its strength. Academic functions: Causation / Relationships.
Words that belong together
- neutralize an effect
- neutralize a threat
- neutralize the influence of
On the page
The subsidy may neutralize the price advantage created by the tariff.
A strong counterargument can neutralize the rhetorical force of the analogy.
The procedure uses a base to neutralize the acid before disposal.
Adding water dilutes an acid but does not by itself neutralize it.
The account claims that the operation neutralized the opposing force’s communications capacity.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- neutralize
- Past tense
- neutralized
- Past participle
- neutralized
- Present participle
- neutralizing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- neutralize
- Present continuous
- am/is/are neutralizing
- Present perfect
- have/has neutralized
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been neutralizing
- Past
- neutralized
- Past continuous
- was/were neutralizing
- Past perfect
- had neutralized
- Past perfect continuous
- had been neutralizing
- Future
- will neutralize
- Future continuous
- will be neutralizing
- Future perfect
- will have neutralized
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been neutralizing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Transitive. Third-person neutralizes; simple past and past participle neutralized; present participle neutralizing. British neutralise is a spelling variant. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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