Macerate
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A macerated substance.
- 2 a macerated substance, sometimes used to infuse vodka with flavor. wordnet
- 1 To soften (something) or separate it into pieces by soaking it in a heated or unheated liquid.
- 2 cause to grow thin or weak wordnet
- 3 To reduce solids to small pieces (in a macerator).
- 4 soften, usually by steeping in liquid, and cause to disintegrate as a result wordnet
- 5 To make lean; to cause to waste away. archaic
"Baal scuttles with ten tails Between as many legs as he could carry— Perhaps Thomas poking through the holes And finding resolution beyond the scales And incorporeal pain of the hammered Messiah,"
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- 6 become soft or separate and disintegrate as a result of excessive soaking wordnet
- 7 To subdue the appetite by poor or scanty diet; to mortify. obsolete
- 8 separate into constituents by soaking wordnet
- 9 To mortify the flesh in general. obsolete
"“My dear child, how are you employed?” I knew the voice of the Superior, and I replied, “My father, I was sleeping.” “And I was macerating myself at the foot of the altar for you, my child,—the scourge is red with my blood.” I returned no answer, for I felt the maceration was better merited by the betrayer than the betrayed."
- 10 past participle of macerate form-of, obsolete, participle, past
Example
More examples"Baal scuttles with ten tails Between as many legs as he could carry— Perhaps Thomas poking through the holes And finding resolution beyond the scales And incorporeal pain of the hammered Messiah,"
Etymology
First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin mācerātus, perfect passive participle of mācerō (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from Proto-Indo-European *mag-, *mak- (“to knead”), whence make. Cognate with French macérer.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.