Standard Lemma guide

eviscerate

verb · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ɪˈvɪsəˌɹeɪt/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 V IH1 S ER0 EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To disembowel; to remove the viscera.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To destroy or make ineffectual or meaningless.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To elicit the essence of.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To remove a bodily organ or its contents.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Topics: medicine, sciences, surgery

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To protrude through a surgical incision.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

having been disembowelled

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

take away a vital or essential part of

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the compromise among the parties eviscerated the bill that had been proposed

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: devitalize, devitalise

8

verb

Meaning 8

remove the entrails of

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • draw a chicken

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: disembowel, draw

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: remove, take, take away, withdraw

9

verb

Meaning 9

remove the contents of

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • eviscerate the stomach

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: empty

10

verb

Meaning 10

surgically remove a part of a structure or an organ

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: resect

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: remove, take, take away, withdraw

History

Etymology

From Latin ēviscerātus, past participle of ēviscerāre (“to disembowel”), from e- (“out”) + viscera (“bowels”), equivalent to e- (“out”) + viscera + -ate.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: բովանդակազրկել (bovandakazrkel) — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • Dutch: ontkrachten — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • Dutch: verzwakken — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • Finnish: mitätöidä — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • German: entkräften — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • German: schwächen — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • German: bedeutungslos machen — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • German: aushöhlen — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • German: unterlaufen — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • German: unterminieren — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • Russian: опустошать (opustošatʹ) — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • Russian: опорожнять (oporožnjatʹ) — to make ineffectual or meaningless
  • Dutch: uithollen — to elicit the essence of
  • Finnish: kiteyttää — to elicit the essence of
  • Finnish: poistaa — to remove an organ or its contents
  • German: Organ entnehmen — to remove an organ or its contents
  • German: ausweiden — to remove an organ or its contents
  • Finnish: leikata — to protrude through surgical incision
  • Russian: выхолащивать (vyxolaščivatʹ) — to protrude through surgical incision