Meaning of Hooverize | Babel Free

Definitions

To be economical in the use of a resource, particularly food.

dated, intransitive, transitive

Examples

“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 will be sin / So if, with great success, we are to win⟳, / Hooverize! / Things must be canned which never were before, / We must have⟳ fruits and vegetables galore, / There must be lots of corn and beets and beans, / And to us all this warning simple means, / Hooverize! / Our soldiers must be fed in France and here, / To all of us our soldiers are most dear, / And we must ‘do our bit’ and help⟳ along, / And every one of us must sing⟳ the song, / Hooverize! / ‘Conserve your food supply⟳ and win⟳ the war,’ / All of you have⟳ read⟳ these words before, / But when you red them now remember⟳ you / Have⟳ got your ‘little bit’ cut⟳ out to do— / So Hooverize!”

“‘Hooverize’ is the word in our national economical situation. Let⟳ us Hooverize in the telephone service; conserve the force⟳ that plays such an important role in our present-day business methods; save⟳ time; save⟳ electricity spent on tomfoolery gossipping over the wire; keep⟳ the front door for business wide open⟳; Hooverize for measured service.”

“As William Leuchtenburg writes: So pervasive were the food administrator’s messages that Webster’s gained a new entry: Hooverize, meaning to economize in the national interest⟳. It became a household word. A 1918 Valentine’s Day card read⟳: I can Hooverize on dinner, / And on lights and fuel too, / But I'll never learn⟳ to Hooverize, / When it comes to loving you.”

CEFR level