Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To stimulate or shock with an electric current.
  • transitive verb To arouse to awareness or action; spur.
  • transitive verb To coat (iron or steel) with rust-resistant zinc.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To subject to the action of an electric or galvanic current, as in medicine.
  • Hence To confer a fictitious vitality upon; give a mechanical semblance of life or vitality to.
  • To plate, as with gold, silver, or other metal, by means of galvanic electricity; electroplate. Also spelled galvanise.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To affect with galvanism; to subject to the action of electrical currents.
  • transitive verb To plate, as with gold, silver, etc., by means of electricity.
  • transitive verb To restore to consciousness by galvanic action (as from a state of suspended animation); hence, to stimulate or excite to a factitious animation or activity.
  • transitive verb To coat, as iron, with zinc. See Galvanized iron.
  • transitive verb formerly, iron coated with zink by electrical deposition; now more commonly, iron coated with zink by plunging into a bath of melted zink, after its surface has been cleaned by friction with the aid of dilute acid.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive, chemistry To coat with a thin layer of metal by electrochemical means; to electroplate.
  • verb transitive To coat with rust-resistant zinc
  • verb transitive To shock or stimulate into sudden activity

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb cover with zinc
  • verb to stimulate to action
  • verb stimulate (muscles) by administering a shock

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Galvani +‎ -ize. Galvani was the discoverer of the process.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word galvanize.

Examples

  • Chief Warren Riley and Mayor Ray Nagins call for residents to galvanize is an insult.

    Your Right Hand Thief 2008

  • Perhaps SIV was waiting for some event or announcement to once again galvanize people into marching.

    Your Right Hand Thief 2008

  • Chief Warren Riley and Mayor Ray Nagins call for residents to galvanize is an insult.

    Archive 2008-01-01 2008

  • Chief Warren Riley and Mayor Ray Nagins call for residents to galvanize is an insult.

    Archive 2007-01-01 2007

  • UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I am not so much worried as I am excited about by the whole drama of this, and I think in one way it is good for the country because it brings a lot of people and focuses their attention on this, and helps kind of galvanize the whole youth and the rest of ...

    CNN Transcript - Breaking News: Election 2000: Middle Americans Sound Off on Florida Recount - November 10, 2000 2000

  • As opponents of big government converged on what has been billed as the first national tea party convention, organizers hoped the event would further "galvanize" the populist movement and help it gather momentum after a string of recent conservative electoral victories.

    CommonDreams.org Headlines 2010

  • As opponents of big government converged on what has been billed as the first national tea party convention, organizers hoped the event would further "galvanize" the populist movement and help it gather momentum after a string of recent conservative electoral victories.

    CommonDreams.org Headlines 2010

  • Tea Party convention starting Feb. 4 in Nashville, Tenn., organizers hope the event will "galvanize" the populist movement and help it gather momentum after a string of recent conservative electoral victories.

    ABC News: ABCNews 2010

  • While the administration aimed to "galvanize" entrepreneurs from Muslim-majority countries, these Muslim upstarts shied away from pigeon-holing into a religious or ethnic category.

    Infidel Bloggers Alliance 2010

  • As opponents of big government converged on what has been billed as the first national tea party convention, organizers hoped the event would further "galvanize" the populist movement and help it gather momentum after a string of recent conservative electoral victories.

    legitgov 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.