The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bowdlerize \Bowd"ler*ize\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bowdlerized; p. pr. & vb. n. Bowdlerizing.] [After Dr. Thomas Bowdler, an English physician, who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare in 1818.] To expurgate, as a book, by omitting or modifying the parts considered offensive; to remove morally objectionable parts; -- said of literary texts.
Syn: bowdlerise, expurgate, shorten, cut.
It is a grave defect in the splendid tale of Tom
Jones . . . that a Bowdlerized version of it would
be hardly intelligible as a tale.
--F. Harrison.
[1913 Webster] -- Bowd`ler*i*za"tion, n. --
Bowd"ler*ism, n.
Wiktionary
vb. (present participle of bowdlerize English)
Usage examples of "bowdlerizing".
Only by bowdlerizing McCarthy's message can liberals make it look like he failed.
As best he could, bowdlerizing only slightly, he recounted the conversation he'd had with the group captain.
At the risk of bowdlerizing the piece, I'll just mention that it's about this guy whose higher thought processes become involved in a conflict of interest with his brainstem.