polarize

• polarise (UK)

From French polariser.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpəʊ.lə.ɹaɪz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊ.lə.ɹaɪz/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈpəʉ.lə.ɹɑɪz/

polarize (third-person singular simple present polarizes, present participle polarizing, simple past and past participle polarized)

1. (transitive, US) To cause to have a polarization.
   • 1979 August 11, Lisa Capaldini, “Lessons From History”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 4, page 4:

     To polarize, and indeed, to artificially distinguish between the secular and the religious is to dismiss the inarguable Judeo-Christian foundation of contemporary secular institutions.

2. (transitive, US) To cause a group to be divided into extremes.
   • 2022 April 26, Cara Lombardo, Meghan Bobrowsky, Georgia Wells, “Musk Strikes Deal to Buy Twitter”, in The Wall Street Journal, volume 279, number 96, Dow Jones & Company, News Corp, page 1:

     The deal has polarized Twitter employees, users, and regulators over the power tech giants wield in determining the parameters of acceptable discourse on the internet and how those companies enforce their rules.

• polarization
• polarized light
• zone of polarizing activity