censor

> censor, censure and censer
censor, censure and censer are liable to be confused. Censor means "to examine letters, publications, etc, and remove anything whose inclusion is against official policy, or is obscene or libellous", as in "In wartime, soldiers" letters were often censored in case the enemy got hold of useful information" and in "Parts of the film had to be censored in order to make it suitable for children". Censure means "to blame or criticize severely", as in "The police were censured by the press for not catching the murderer of the child" and in "The pupils were censured by the headmaster for bullying younger children". Censure may also be a noun, as in "They encountered strong censure from their neighbours for reprimanding the children". The spelling of censor is often confused with that of censer, "a vessel used for burning incense".