galvanize
verb
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Luigi Galvani was an Italian physician and physicist who, in the 1770s, studied the electrical nature of nerve impulses by applying electrical stimulation to frogs’ leg muscles, causing them to contract. Although Galvani’s theory that animal tissue contained an innate electrical impulse was disproven, the French word galvanisme came to refer to a current of electricity especially when produced by chemical action, while the verb galvaniser was used for the action of applying such a current (both words were apparently coined by German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, who modeled them after the French equivalents of magnetism and magnetize). In English, these words came to life as galvanism and galvanize, respectively. Today their primary senses are figurative: to galvanize a person or group is to spur them into action as if they’ve been jolted with electricity.
Synonyms
Examples of galvanize in a Sentence
Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2025
Covell was a tall and charismatic young man who stood up and galvanized the crowd, which had gathered near the university’s front gates to learn the board’s choice, printed on pamphlets and passed around.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 3 Feb. 2025
But great concentrations of power bring with them great concentrations of corruption, and by the 1860s a growing chorus began calling for reform, galvanized ultimately in 1881 by the assassination of President James A. Garfield by a disappointed office seeker.
—Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025
Kenny Atkinson, the first-year coach who has galvanized this Cleveland roster and put the Cavs in the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference, compares Garland to Steph Curry, whom Atkinson coached at Golden State.
—Jon Krawczynski, The Athletic, 23 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Galvanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/galvanize. Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
galvanize
verb
Medical Definition
galvanize
transitive verb
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