censor

To censor is to suppress information because you do not like its content.

(verb)

When you prevent a book from being read in schools because you do not like its content, this is an example of a time when you censor the book.

The definition of a censor is a person who reads or looks at books, movies or other sources of information and then prevents the release of information that is considered inappropriate.

(noun)

A person who watches movies and then decides if they are too inappropriate or obscene is an example of a censor.

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See censor in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. one of two magistrates in ancient Rome appointed to take the census and, later, to supervise public morals
  2. an official with the power to examine publications, movies, television programs, etc. and to remove or prohibit anything considered obscene, libelous, politically objectionable, etc.
  3. an official in time of war who reads publications, mail, etc. to remove information that might be useful to the enemy
  4. in earlier psychoanalytic theory, and still popularly, a part of the unconscious that serves as the agent of censorship

Origin: L < censere, to tax, value, judge < IE base *ens, speak solemnly, announce > Sans ṡáṁsa, praise, prayer of praise

transitive verb

to subject (a book, writer, etc.) to censorship

Related Forms:

See censor in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. A person authorized to examine books, films, or other material and to remove or suppress what is considered morally, politically, or otherwise objectionable.
  2. An official, as in the armed forces, who examines personal mail and official dispatches to remove information considered secret or a risk to security.
  3. One that condemns or censures.
  4. One of two officials in ancient Rome responsible for taking the public census and supervising public behavior and morals.
  5. Psychology The agent in the unconscious that is responsible for censorship.
transitive verb cen·sored, cen·sor·ing, cen·sors
To examine and expurgate.

Origin:

Origin: Latin cēnsor, Roman censor

Origin: , from cēnsēre, to assess; see kens- in Indo-European roots

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Related Forms:

  • cenˈsor·a·ble adjective
  • cen·soˈri·al (sĕn-sôrˈē-əl, -sōrˈ-) adjective

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