All 3 Uses

neutral
in
1984, by Orwell
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In his capacity as an administrator, it is often necessary for a member of the Inner Party to know that this or that item of war news is untruthful, and he may often be aware that the entire war is spurious and is either not happening or is being waged for purposes quite other than the declared ones: but such knowledge is easily neutralized by the technique of doublethink.
p. 192.9

neutralized = made to have no effect

standard suffix: The suffix "-ize" converts a word to a verb. This is the same pattern you see in words like apologize, theorize, and dramatize.
In the crucial years, the fact that the Party was not a hereditary body did a great deal to neutralize opposition.
p. 209.8 *

neutralize = make something so it has no effect

standard suffix: The suffix "-ize" converts a word to a verb. This is the same pattern you see in words like apologize, theorize, and dramatize.
Great areas of it, even for a Party member, were neutral and non-political, a matter of slogging through dreary jobs, fighting for a place on the Tube, darning a worn-out sock, cadging a saccharine tablet, saving a cigarette end.†
p. 74.1 *

Definitions:

(1) (neutral as in: played at a neutral site)
not favoring any side in a contest, war, disagreement, or other dispute
(2) (neutral as in: a carbon-neutral building)
not affected by; or does not affect
The expression [x] neutral means two things do not affect each other. More specifically, it means one of two things depending upon context:
- something is not affected by x -- for example "a revenue neutral tax plan" does not affect the amount of revenue collected. (It might raise taxes in one area and reduce them in another so that the total tax revenue is unchanged.)
- something does not affect x -- for example "a carbon neutral home" is a home that does not affect carbon. Part of its design might include using solar energy to control climate rather than burning fossil fuels.
(3) (neutral as in: decorated in neutral colors)
bland (not striking in appearance or impression)
(4) (neutral as in: Put the car in neutral.)
gears are not engaged; or (metaphorically) nothing is happening
(5) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Specialized senses typically mean that something does not belong to either of two other opposite alternatives; such as:
- chemistry: not acidic or alkaline
- physics: not with a positive charge or with a negative charge
- electric circuitry: with no voltage or electrical charge (though that is an informal simplification that would be dangerous if assumed in fact)