Eviscerating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of removing the internal organs of a body or animal ; delivering extremely harsh and damaging criticism to someone or something
2. Extracting guts or entrails from a creature ; expressing strong disapproval in a cutting or devastating way
3. Taking out internal parts such as intestines ; attacking with ruthless and thorough condemnation

Etymology: The literal sense came first: to remove the viscera, the internal organs, from a body. Latin "ēviscerāre" combined "ex-", meaning "out" or "out of", with "viscera", "bowels" or entrails, so the word named a physical act of gutting an animal or a person. The figurative sense, to strip something of its core or force, followed from that image, and the metaphorical use of "eviscerate" for criticism that leaves a target hollowed out is what most readers now encounter. The English word was borrowed directly from the Latin past participle "ēviscerātus", so it arrived with its original meaning intact and kept the bodily picture that the Latin verb carried. The root "viscera" is also the source of the everyday English adjective "visceral", which describes feelings or reactions felt deep in the body rather than reasoned out.

Synonyms: disemboweling, gutting, removing, extracting, depleting

Antonyms: preserving, maintaining, sustaining, protecting, sparing