neutralize (v.)

  1. make politically neutral and thus inoffensive; The treaty neutralized the small republic'

  2. make ineffective by counterbalancing the effect of; Her optimism neutralizes his gloom; This action will negate the effect of my efforts

    [ Syn: neutralise , nullify , negate ]

  3. oppose and mitigate the effects of by contrary actions; This will counteract the foolish actions of my colleagues

    [ Syn: counteract , countervail , counterbalance ]

  4. get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing; The mafia liquidated the informer; the double agent was neutralized

    [ Syn: neutralise , liquidate , waste , knock off , do in ]

  5. make incapable of military action

    [ Syn: neutralise ]

  6. make chemically neutral; She neutralized the solution

    [ Syn: neutralise ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.