galvanize

verb5

1. •
   (figurative) To shock or stimulate into sudden activity, as if by electric shock.

   • The girl’s picture helped galvanize public opinion against the administration’s policy.
   • Republicans are hoping a proposed gas-tax repeal will galvanize their voters.
2. •
   To coat with a layer of zinc (for rust resistance) by electrochemical means.

   • We then galvanize the steel so that the zinc coating will sacrificially take the corrosion for many years.
3. •
   (old-fashioned) To coat with a layer of metal by electrochemical means.
4. •
   (US, historical) To switch sides between Union and Confederate in the American Civil War.

   • Reenactors called this “galvanizing,” the Civil War term for soldiers who switched sides during the conflict. — 1998
5. •
   (no longer used) To electrify, as by galvanism.

   • The agitations resembled the grinnings and writhings of a galvanized corpse, not the struggles of an athletic man. — 1835