pulverize
verb
pul·ver·ize
ˈpəl-və-ˌrīz 
pulverized; pulverizing
1
: to reduce (as by crushing, beating, or grinding) to very small particles : atomize
pulverize rock
2
: to become pulverized
Examples of pulverize in a Sentence
The mower pulverizes grass clippings.
Bits of pulverized rock filled the air.
Recent Examples on the Web
The quarry was initially dug in the first century B.C. as a source for tuff, a volcanic rock that was pulverized as an ingredient for Roman concrete, the strong, essential material used to construct the city’s most illustrious architectural wonders.
—
Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Mar. 2025
At the Indiana State Police Laboratory, scientists cut out sections of bone, froze them with liquid nitrogen and pulverized them into a fine powder.
—CBS News, 7 Jan. 2025
On the city’s main shopping street, businesses that once bustled in the holiday season have been pulverized, and some of those that remain have been blackened by fire.
—Euan Ward, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2024
That’s produced by removing the cacao bean shell after the bean has fermented and dried, and then using rollers to press out the fat in the bean – the cocoa butter – and pulverizing the remaining cocoa cakes into powder.
—Kendra Nordin Beato, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pulverize
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Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Mar. 2025
At the Indiana State Police Laboratory, scientists cut out sections of bone, froze them with liquid nitrogen and pulverized them into a fine powder.
—CBS News, 7 Jan. 2025
On the city’s main shopping street, businesses that once bustled in the holiday season have been pulverized, and some of those that remain have been blackened by fire.
—Euan Ward, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2024
That’s produced by removing the cacao bean shell after the bean has fermented and dried, and then using rollers to press out the fat in the bean – the cocoa butter – and pulverizing the remaining cocoa cakes into powder.
—Kendra Nordin Beato, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pulverize
Cite this Entry
“Pulverize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pulverize. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pulverize
verb
pul·ver·ize
ˈpəl-və-ˌrīz
pulverized; pulverizing
1
: to beat or grind into a powder or dust
2
: to destroy as if by pulverizing
Medical Definition
pulverize
verb
pul·ver·ize
variants
also British pulverise
pulverized also British pulverised; pulverizing also British pulverising
: to reduce (as by crushing, beating, or grinding) to very small particles
: to become pulverized
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