polarize

[poh-luh-rahyz] /ˈpoʊ ləˌraɪz/

verb (used with object), polarized, polarizing.

to cause polarization in.

to divide into sharply opposing factions, political groups, etc.:

The controversy has polarized voters into proabortion and antiabortion groups.

to give polarity to.

verb (used without object), polarized, polarizing.

to become polarized.

Also, especially British, polarise.

Origin

1805-15; polar + -ize

Related forms

polarizable, adjective

polarizability, noun

depolarize, verb (used with object), depolarized, depolarizing.

nonpolarizable, adjective

nonpolarizing, adjective

repolarize, verb (used with object), repolarized, repolarizing.

Examples from the web for polarize

The paranoid mood helps polarize our politics, no doubt, and can inspire spasms of nihilistic violence.
To win the the hearts of nationalist voters, it is always good practice to polarize.
He also found that certain reactions polarize atomic nuclei, a discovery that opened up a new way to study reactions.
You, the wise and intelligent consumer, don't have to buy into either side's propaganda and polarize to one end or another.
The purpose of the contras was never to foster free elections, but to polarize the country.
Even the casual prime-time news viewer or blog reader can see the purpose is to polarize.
It is morally wrong to polarize the country this way.
Openly serving gays polarize and fragment that critical trust and confidence.
Sometimes you publish puzzles that polarize the audience.
Those two adjectives polarize one's feelings about the play.

British Dictionary definitions for polarize

polarize

/ˈpəʊləˌraɪz/

verb

to acquire or cause to acquire polarity

to acquire or cause to acquire polarization: to polarize light

to cause people to adopt extreme opposing positions: to polarize opinion

Derived Forms

polarizable, polarisable, adjective

Word Origin and History for polarize

1811, in optics, from French polariser, coined by French physicist Étienne-Louis Malus (1775-1812) as a term in optics, from Modern Latin polaris "polar" (see polar). Transferred sense of "to accentuate a division in a group or system" is first recorded 1949 in Arthur Koestler. Related: Polarized; polarizing.

polarize in Science

polarize

(pō'lə-rīz')

To separate or accumulate positive and negative electric charges in two distinct regions. Polarized objects have an electric dipole moment and will undergo torque when placed in an external electric field.
To magnetize a substance so that it has the properties of a magnetic dipole, such as having a north and south pole.
To cause the electrical and magnetic fields associated with electromagnetic waves, especially light, to vibrate in a particular direction or path. The transverse electric and magnetic waves always vibrate at right angles to each other, but in ordinary unpolarized light sources, the direction of polarization of each wave is randomly distributed. Light can be polarized by reflection, and by passing through certain materials. See more at polarization.