hooverize

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Hooverize^¹

/ˈhuvɚaɪz/ US
/ˈhuːvə(ɹ)aɪz/ UK

Where it comes from

From Hoover + -ize, named after Herbert Hoover, who, as head of the Food and Drug Administration during World War I, encouraged Americans to ration food. Apparently coined in the poem reproduced below.

verb Hooverizes · Hooverizing · Hooverized · Hooverise · hooverize

dated, intransitive, transitive To be economical in the use of a resource, particularly food. The clean plate is the slogan of today, / And we this vital war-cry must obey, / And waste no single particle or crust / And save the scraps, for now we really must / Hooverize! / The empty garbage pail is now the rage, / And in this ‘war on waste’ which we must wage / To throw away an egg shell wil

hooverize^²

verb hooverizes · hooverizing · hooverized

alternative Alternative form of Hooverize

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MLA

"hooverize." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hooverize. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hooverize. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hooverize

Chicago

"hooverize." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hooverize.

BibTeX

@misc{hooverize_2026,
  title = {hooverize},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hooverize},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}