Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Liberalize \Lib"er*al*ize\ (l[i^]b"[~e]r*al*[imac]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Liberalized (-[imac]zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Liberalizing (-[imac]`z[i^]ng).] [Cf. F. lib['e]raliser.] To make liberal; to free from narrow views or prejudices; to make less strict.
To open and to liberalize the mind.
--Burke.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1774, from liberal (adj.) + -ize. Related: Liberalized; liberalizing.
Wiktionary
alt. 1 (context transitive English) to make liberal, free. 2 (context intransitive English) to become liberal, free. vb. 1 (context transitive English) to make liberal, free. 2 (context intransitive English) to become liberal, free.
WordNet
v. make liberal or more liberal, of laws and rules [syn: liberalise]
become more liberal; "The laws liberalized after Prohibition" [syn: liberalise]
Wikipedia
Liberalize may refer to:
- Liberalism, a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equality
- Liberalization, relaxation of government restrictions, usually in areas of social, political and economic policy
Usage examples of "liberalize".
On taking his degree he entered the Civil Service, where he remained all his life, at first in the Ministry of Finance, later, when in 1856 it was decided to liberalize the censorship, as a censor.
Educational reform liberalized curricula, promoted coeducational egalitarianism, and broadened access to the elite track of the universities.
The Pill and liberalized abortion laws dramatically reduced the chances of unwanted children.
The peg causes suffering only when combined with the Four Horsemen of IMF neoliberal policy: liberalized financial markets, free trade, mass privatization and government surpluses.
In the meantime, they would like to see the sanctions liberalized if not lifted altogether, to maximize their profits from Iraqi trade.
Indeed, the more the Security Council liberalized the oil-for-food deal, the less support there was for containment and the more countries ignored the sanctions altogether.
Throughout the 1980s, Ozal privatized state companies, liberalized banking, allowed for free and floating exchange rates, and used the bully pulpit to champion the small-time entrepreneur.
But to liberalize anything was a major undertaking, because any liberalization of any rule might be seen as a theological error--this in a country where apostasy was a capital crime.
Indeed, the Saudis have been liberalizing their trade relations with Iraq to the point that the Kingdom's trade with Iraq is now estimated at $1 billion per year, and the Saudis have allowed Baghdad to accredit an ambassador to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which has its permanent home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Every nation indeed, on the continent of Europe, belligerent as well as neutral, is interested in maintaining these rights, in liberalizing them progressively with the progress of science and refinement of morality, and in relieving them from restrictions which the extension of the arts has long since rendered unreasonable and vexatious.
The signs are, that the next twenty years will bring about some noteworthy changes in the Valley, in the direction of increased population and wealth, and in the intellectual advancement and the liberalizing of opinion which go naturally with these.