Word.ws English Dictionary

Widlarize

Syllables: Wid·ler·ize/ˈwaɪdləɹaɪz/

Widlarize verb: to destroy (a defective electronic component) using a hammer.

widlarize: to destroy (a defective electronic component) using a hammer
Image: IT Liquidators, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

Widlarize (third-person singular simple present Widlarizes, present participle Widlarizing, simple past and past participle Widlarized)

  1. (slang, transitive, uncommon) To destroy (a defective electronic component) using a hammer.
    • Now, when I have finished my inspection, and I am still mad as hell because I have wasted a lot of time being fooled by a bad component—what do I do? I usually WIDLARIZE it, and it makes me feel a lot better. How do you WIDLARIZE something? You take it over to the anvil part of the vice, and you...1991, Robert A[llen] Pease, “First Things First: The Philosophy of Troubleshooting”, in Troubleshooting Analog Circuits: With Electronics Workbench Circuits, Boston, Mass.: Newnes, published 1993...
    • Abuse of them by people who don't care about the RF they generate is leading certain people to buy up and Widlarize ones floating around hamfests.1999 February 9, Doug, “High Output Tube Amp”, in rec.audio.tubes (Usenet)

Examples of Widlarize in a sentence

  • I usually WIDLARIZE it, and it makes me feel a lot better.1991, Robert A[llen] Pease, “First Things First: The Philosophy of Troubleshooting”, in Troubleshooting Analog Circuits: With Electronics...
  • I decided to "Widlarize" the failed drive, first dropping it 4 feet onto the floor (1/2" thick carpet with concrete underneath).2002 April 28, Daniel Lang, “Interesting Failure, Seagate ST41600N”, in sci.electronics.design (Usenet):

Forms of Widlarize

third-person singular presentWidlarizes
present participleWidlarizing
past participleWidlarized
pastWidlarized

Origin of Widlarize

From Widlar + -ize. Named after American electronics engineer Bob Widlar (1937–1991), pronounced /ˈwaɪdləɹ/, who was known for destroying his components using the method.

Questions about Widlarize

What does Widlarize mean?
Widlarize means to destroy (a defective electronic component) using a hammer.
How do you use Widlarize in a sentence?
I usually WIDLARIZE it, and it makes me feel a lot better.
What part of speech is Widlarize?
Widlarize is a verb.
How do you pronounce Widlarize?
Widlarize is pronounced /ˈwaɪdləɹaɪz/.
What is the past tense of Widlarize?
The past tense of Widlarize is Widlarized.

Words near Widlarize in the dictionary

  1. widish
  2. widishins
  3. Widjaja
  4. Widjajas
  5. Widlar
  6. Widlarize
  7. Widlarized
  8. Widlarizes
  9. Widlarizing
  10. Widley
  11. Widman

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Widlarize (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Widlarize.wav.

Cite this entry: “Widlarize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/widlarize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.