▪ I. cowardize, v.
(ˈkaʊədaɪz)
[f. coward n. + -ize.]
trans. To make a coward of; to render cowardly; to daunt. Hence ˈcowardizing vbl. n.
| 1629 H. Burton Babel no Bethel Ded. 6 The cowardizing of our English spirits. 1648 Gage West. Ind. xix. (1655) 139 Now they are cowardized, oppressed, unarmed. 1667 J. Flavel Saint Indeed (1754) 57 It is guilt upon the conscience that softens and cowardizes our spirits. 1840 Blackw. Mag. XLVIII. 261 That the poverty and slavery they were bred up in should cowardize them. |
▪ II. cowardize
obs. form of cowardice.