neuteredadj.
/ˈnjuːtəd/, U.S. /ˈn(j)udərd/ 1. Castrated or spayed (usually of a cat).
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Felidae (feline) > felis domesticus (cat) > [adjective] > castrated
neutered1935
1935 E. B. Simmons Cats xxi. 110 Neutered cats are inclined, with their greater serenity, to take on extra flesh.
1939 I. M. Mellen Pract. Cat Bk. iv. 99 Gelded cats are known also as altered cats, neutered cats, castrated cats, and neuters.
1963 B. Vesey-Fitzgerald Cat Owner's Encycl. 39 A neutered cat is much more likely to stay around the house.
1980 ‘L. Cody’ Dupe (1981) xiv. 94 The cat woke Anna at eight, wailing outside her door like a neutered donkey.
1991 D. Wakoski Medea the Sorceress 75 No wonder we want a neutered president. Sex is trouble.
1999 Herald (Glasgow) 6 Apr. 16/6 (advt.) Rag doll cat neutered male, beautiful big cat, 2 years old, good with children/pets.
2. figurative. Rendered neuter; rendered harmless, ineffectual, or sterile.
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1977 ELH 44 379 That the writing can locate no tabula rasa upon which to start fresh perpetuates a puzzling account of erasure and rewriting whose androgynous efforts can never quite reconstitute the neutered it and establish unadulterated authority.
1984 Time 19 Mar. 15/1 The establishment of a neutered ‘civil religion’ is offensive to many who believe deeply in their own faiths.
1992 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 38/1 It was an artsy crowd of ancien régime types and politically neutered intellectuals.
2001 N.Y. Times 4 Jan. e3/2 A year in which pop music continued its divergence into two streams, safely neutered teenybop pop and aggressive, testosterone-enhanced rap and rock.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1935