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bowdlerize
verb

- to remove words or parts from a book, play or film that are considered to be unsuitable or offensive

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

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Bowdlerize is an eponym - a word derived from a person - named after Thomas Bowdler, an English physician and philanthropist who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Bowdler's claim to fame was The Family Shakespeare, an edited version of William Shakespeare's work that he published in conjunction with his sister Henrietta. This censored edition was designed to be more appropriate for 19th century women and children than the original.

After several other publications, some reflecting his interest in and knowledge of continental Europe, Bowdler's last work was a cleaned up version of Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published posthumously in 1826 under the supervision of his nephew and biographer, Thomas Bowdler the Younger.

Bowdler nonetheless made a name for himself by editing Shakespeare. Below are several examples of how he modified some of the Great Bard's works:

- In Hamlet, the death of Ophelia was referred to as an accidental drowning, omitting the suggestions that she may have intended suicide.

- In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth's famous cry "Out, damned spot!" was changed to "Out, crimson spot!"

- "God!" as an exclamation is replaced with "Heavens!"

- In Henry IV, Part 2, the prostitute Doll Tearsheet is omitted entirely while retaining the slightly more reputable Mistress Quickly.

(adapted from Wikipedia)

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SYNONYMS

abridge, censor, cut, delete, excise, expurgate, purge, sanitize, sterilize, strike out

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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation

"Sorry, we had bowdlerize your report before releasing it to the press."