Meaning & use
castration
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Meanings
noununcountablemedical
The surgical removal of the testicles, performed on animals or people.
Grammar: Uncountable when referring to the procedure in general; countable when referring to a specific instance: a castration.
Patterns
- castration of an animal
- undergo castration
Castration is often recommended to prevent certain cancers in male dogs.
The prisoner was subjected to castration as a form of punishment.
noununcountablefigurative
The act of weakening or removing the power or effectiveness of something.
Grammar: Used figuratively, often with 'of': the castration of the bill.
Patterns
- castration of a policy
- the castration of the bill
The castration of the environmental bill disappointed activists.
Many saw the budget cuts as the castration of the public health system.
Word forms
| plural | castrations |
|---|
Common combinations
- castration of animals
- The castration of animals is a routine procedure in veterinary medicine.
- undergo castration
- Some male animals undergo castration to reduce aggression.
- castration anxiety
- Freud wrote about castration anxiety in his theories of child development.
Synonyms and how they differ
- neutering
- Neutering is a broader term that includes castration of males and spaying of females, and is more common in everyday speech about pets.
- emasculation
- Emasculation is usually figurative, meaning a loss of power or masculinity; castration is more often literal and medical.
Word family
- castrate verb
- To remove the testicles of; to weaken.
- castrato noun
- A male singer castrated in boyhood.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'castration' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Castration refers to the removal of testicles. The other options misuse the word or confuse it with unrelated terms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “castration”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.