bowdlerize

Apparently, to bowdlerize Coco Chanel, elegance really has been refusal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2018

To bowdlerize Benjamin Franklin, in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and Arsenal finishing in the top four.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 26, 2017

The rush to bowdlerize  what Biden had said turned  a glancing tap of the bruise into a grinding fist.

From Slate ● May 9, 2012

Nor do they wish to bowdlerize the bawdier passages reproduced in the script.

From Time Magazine Archive

Later, when the novel appeared in book form, the Comstocks began an action to have it suppressed, and forced the publisher to bowdlerize it.

From A Book of Prefaces by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken

Also, and not incidentally, the river is named for the tribe whose chief’s bowdlerized name became that of the city.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 2, 2020

These are not fantasy images — not bowdlerized, not even especially flattering — and they do not aim for the smiling “Say cheese” millisecond beloved by family photographers.

From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2016

“It” offered a bowdlerized version of Jazz Age liberties—and Glyn herself turns up in the film to offer a sanitized definition of her own idea.

From The New Yorker ● Mar. 3, 2016

His crowd got the joke, though McCain had slightly bowdlerized the reference.

From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2014

Moreover, a somewhat bowdlerized English edition, published by William Heinemann in 1901, made a fair success, and even provoked a certain mild controversy.

From A Book of Prefaces by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken

But, as Samartzis admitted with a grin, bowdlerizing wind from the breeziest place in the world wasn’t very authentic.

From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2023

When Televisa tried bowdlerizing the footage with a pro-government spin, he destroyed the tape and resigned, effectively blacklisting himself.

From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2015

All the candidates have taken what was once a very specific ideology and extracted their favorite parts, selectively interpreting the vision and generally bowdlerizing it.

From Washington Post ● May 15, 2015

Note that, in railing against the bowdlerizing of the film's language, Ebert censored himself.

From Time ● Apr. 4, 2011

But despite bowdlerizing content, my family has been entirely faithful about visiting.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen