1. to make unconscious or insensible by administering ether as an anesthetic
Usage: medical; historical

Examples

• The surgeon etherized the patient before beginning the operation.
• In the 19th century, doctors would etherize patients using a cloth soaked in ether.
• The dentist etherized the child to extract the damaged tooth painlessly.
• Before modern anesthetics, physicians commonly etherized patients for major surgeries.
• The medical student learned how early practitioners would etherize patients in operating theaters.