debigulate

English

Etymology

Back-formation from Debigulator, itself from de- +‎ big +‎ -ule +‎ -ate +‎ -or, a fictional shrink ray featured in the 1996 episode "Treehouse of Horror VII" of the American animated television series The Simpsons.

Verb

debigulate (third-person singular simple present debigulates, present participle debigulating, simple past and past participle debigulated)

1. (rare, humorous) To reduce or shrink; to make or become smaller.

   Synonym: ensmallen

   Antonym: embiggen

   • 2000 February 27, Ben Mann, “Re: X'tapolapocetl (Quetzelsacatanango?)”, in alt.tv.simpsons‎ (Usenet):

     > think moe will get his ears enlarged 2.27.00?
     No, he'll get them debigulated.

   • 2002 October 22, Ed, “Button to enlarge or debigulate size of text?”, in netscape.public.mozilla.wishlist‎ (Usenet):
   • 2008 May 13, Ron Newcomb, “I7: Dynamic Tables extension for Glulx”, in rec.arts.int-fiction‎ (Usenet):

     Does debigulating a table first delete blank rows? (I don't know if blank rows are always at the end or not.)

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:debigulate.