| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| brainwashing |
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| SYLLABICATION: | brain·wash·ing |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  br n w sh  ng, -wôshng |
| NOUN: | 1. Intensive, forcible indoctrination, usually political or religious, aimed at destroying a person's basic convictions and attitudes and replacing them with an alternative set of fixed beliefs. 2. The application of a concentrated means of persuasion, such as an advertising campaign or repeated suggestion, in order to develop a specific belief or motivation. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Translation of Chinese (Mandarin) x n o : x, to wash + no, brain.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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