Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
also short-bread, 1755, from short (see shortening) + bread (n.).
1881, with -ize, after Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French chemist and bacteriologist, who invented the process of heating food, milk, wine, etc., to kill most of the micro-organisms in it; distinguished from sterilization, which involves killing all of them. The surname is literally "Pastor." Related: Pasteurized; pasteurizing.
"the time of life in which the two sexes begin first to be acquainted" [Johnson], late 14c., from Old French puberté and directly from Latin pubertatem (nominative pubertas) "age of maturity, manhood," from pubes (genitive pubertis) "adult, full-grown, manly." Related: Puberal; pubertal.
chiefly British English spelling of customize (q.v.); for spelling, see -ize.
Wiktionary
1 Having some sort of divine harm, malady, or other curse. 2 (context obsolete English) Shrewish, ill-tempered (often applied to women). alt. 1 Having some sort of divine harm, malady, or other curse. 2 (context obsolete English) Shrewish, ill-tempered (often applied to women). v
(en-past of: curse)
a. (alternative form of cursed English)
n. A type of biscuit (cookie), popular in Britain, traditionally made from one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour
n. A speech or treatise consisting of nine parts or chapters; any work in nine parts (compare trilogy (3-part), tetralogy (4-part), etc.).
vb. (context transitive English) To heat food for the purpose of killing harmful organisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, molds, and yeasts.
prov. 1 get married too soon will lead to a bad marriage. 2 Joining (or merging) two things together too soon will lead to problems.
n. (plural of grapeshot English)
n. slogan for the reunification of China as one country, but with areas like Hong Kong and Taiwan with separate economic and political systems.
n. (context zoology English) Any member of the Listrophoridae.
n. 1 The process of sexual development of children that makes them into adolescents capable of reproducing sexually (i.e., making babies through sexual intercourse), and makes them have secondary sex characteristics. 2 The age at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction.
n. (plural of mesoappendix English)
n. (context US education English) The period in school that comes after first grade and before third grade.
vb. (context archaic English) (en-archaic second-person singular of: savour)
vb. (standard spelling of from=Non-Oxford British spelling lang=en customize)
WordNet
adj. deserving a curse; sometimes used as an intensifier; "villagers shun the area believing it to be cursed"; "cursed with four daughter"; "not a cursed drop"; "his cursed stupidity"; "I'll be cursed if I can see your reasoning" [syn: curst] [ant: blessed]
in danger of the eternal punishment of hell; "poor damned souls" [syn: damned, doomed, unredeemed, unsaved]
n. very rich thick butter cookie [syn: shortbread cookie]
v. heat food in order to kill harmful microorganisms; "pasteurize milk" [syn: pasteurise]
n. the time of life when sex glands become functional [syn: pubescence]
v. make to specifications; "I had this desk custom-made for me" [syn: custom-make, customize, tailor-make]
make according to requirements; "customize a car" [syn: customize]
Usage examples of "customise".
Staffers had customised their work spaces in odd ways, as if trying to make them cosier and less efficient-looking.
When the human customising team arrived everything would be in readiness.
There was junk everywhere, toppled stacks of tapes, print-out, dirty plates, clothes strewn over sound equipment, books, towels, burnt-out candles, package shells, customised appliances with insulating tape and rubber flex sticking out of them.
Dying landpussies -- aerobic octopi, customised for low-gee harvesting -- hung like purulent fruit from the mycotic trees, their skins strobing through silvery-green panic hues as they died.