pulverize

[puhl-vuh-rahyz] /ˈpʌl vəˌraɪz/
verb (used with object), pulverized, pulverizing.
1.
to reduce to dust or powder, as by pounding or grinding.
2.
to demolish or crush completely.
3.
Slang. to defeat, hurt badly, or, figuratively, render helpless:
The Kid pulverized Jackson with a series of brutal lefts. He's a veteran nightclub comic who can pulverize any audience in seconds.
verb (used without object), pulverized, pulverizing.
4.
to become reduced to dust.
Also, especially British, pulverise.
Origin
1575-85; < Late Latin pulverizāre to reduce to powder, equivalent to Latin pulver- (stem of pulvis; akin to pollen) dust + -izāre -ize
Related forms
pulverizable, adjective
pulverization, noun
pulverizer, noun
subpulverizer, noun
unpulverized, adjective
Examples from the web for pulverize
  • The night before serving, pulverize the rice in a blender or spice grinder.
  • The bag was supposed to pulverize in the sky, letting loose cement particles to seed the cloud.
  • Place half the almonds in food processor and pulverize.
  • Steve dug at the dirt and growled at the pitcher to give him something he could pulverize.
  • She sits on the ground with a hammer, hitting the bucket in an effort to pulverize the plaster and free her leg.
  • One reportedly showed up with bulldozers ready to pulverize the ruins and burn the tents.
  • Its tendrils threatened to pulverize my mind and my courage and my stomach, and crack my bones and desiccate my body.
  • Thus, they see that it doesn't pay to pulverize the land in their haste to make a profit.
  • It turns out that a high-speed impact on a planet's surface doesn't pulverize all the rock on the ground below.
  • pulverize the bituminous surfacing to the full depth of the existing mat.
British Dictionary definitions for pulverize

pulverize

/ˈpʌlvəˌraɪz/
verb
1.
to reduce (a substance) to fine particles, as by crushing or grinding, or (of a substance) to be so reduced
2.
(transitive) to destroy completely; defeat or injure seriously
Derived Forms
pulverizable, pulverisable, adjective
pulverization, pulverisation, noun
pulverizer, pulveriser, noun
Word Origin
C16: from Late Latin pulverizare or French pulvériser, from Latin pulverum, from pulvis dust
Word Origin and History for pulverize
v.

early 15c., from Late Latin pulverizare "reduce to powder or dust," from Latin pulvis (genitive pulveris) "dust, powder" (see pollen). Related: Pulverized; pulverizing.

Slang definitions & phrases for pulverize

pulverize

verb

To defeat thoroughly; punish; clobber (1631+)