galvanize

verb

1. (broadly, dated, transitive)To coat with a layer of metal by electrochemical means.
2. (broadly, dated, transitive, usually)To coat with a layer of metal by electrochemical means.

   “We then galvanize the steel so that the zinc coating will sacrificially take the corrosion for many years.”

3. (figuratively, transitive)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.”

   “The arrival of the kett stunned and then divided the angara. As described by Jaal, infighting was used as a means of conquest by the kett, but the presence of a common enemy eventually galvanized the angara to work together. The various resistance groups merged into the organized Angaran Resistance roughly five years ago under Evfra de Tershaav's command, supported by prominent families and determined to stop their kett oppressors.”

   “U.S. President Donald Trump’s bombshell proposal to take over the Gaza Strip and relocate its Palestinian inhabitants has made the forced transfer of populations – a war crime – a policy discussion, galvanizing Arab states.”

4. (archaic, transitive)To electrify, as by galvanism.

   “The agitations resembled the grinnings and writhings of a galvanized corpse, not the struggles of an athletic man.”

5. (US, historical, transitive)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.”