To administer anesthesia to someone; to cause loss of sensation or consciousness in a patient for medical purposes.
From 'anesthesia' + '-ize' (verb suffix). Created as a regular verb form from the noun 'anesthesia' in the 19th century.
When doctors 'anesthetize' you, they're literally shutting off your brain's ability to feel pain—different anesthetics target different parts of your nervous system, which is why dentists use local anesthetics but surgeons need general anesthetics.
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