All 5 Uses

neutral
in
Flags of Our Fathers
(Auto-generated)

Using the deceptively neutral term "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere," Japanese propaganda claimed that Japan's aim was to free its neighbors from white colonial rule.
Chpt 3. *

neutral = non-controversial
It would take individual Marine riflemen on the ground to charge and neutralize these defenses.
Chpt 4.

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.
General Kuribayashi's vast tunneling system assured that many Marines were shot as they moved past a "neutralized" nest that had been quickly repopulated from below the ground.
Chpt 7.

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.
Effortlessly, my father neutralized the man's intrusive thrust without disturbing the social atmosphere.
Chpt 14. *
A company next to Easy had taken seven casualties in an attempt to rush and neutralize it.†
Chpt 8. *

neutralize = removing the favoring any side in a contest, war, disagreement, or other dispute

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.

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)