- 1criminalize something to make something illegal by passing a new law The use of opium was not criminalized until fairly recently.
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- 2criminalize somebody to treat someone as a criminal Many gay people felt that they were being criminalized for having relationships.
criminalize
verbNAmE//ˈkrɪmənəˌlaɪz//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they criminalize he / she / it criminalizes
past simple criminalized
-ing form criminalizing
NAmE//ˌkrɪmənələˈzeɪʃn//
noun [uncountable]See criminalize in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: criminalize