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Glite Dictionary
🚫 To turn off 🦽 To injure badly
to disable

to disable

5 4.9
Injure someone so they cannot use part of their body, often permanently
  • verb
  • /dɪsˈeɪbəl/
translation icon : discapacitar
  • The first man had certainly meant to disable him, but no one had tried to do more—and with those odds, and his shortcomings, it should have been easy.

Examples

  • Persistent, chronic low level inflammation appears to be the root cause of the most serious diseases that kill and disable people prematurely.

  • Sometimes I wish the accident that disabled me end in my life.

  • Even a mild case can disable a person.

    Blog text (9)

  • Stroke kills and disables permanently.

    Blog text (19)

  • The accident may disable him for the rest of his life, leaving him unable to walk.

  • The disease can disable the patient's muscles, making everyday tasks difficult.

  • He was concerned that the injury might disable him from competing in the tournament.

Synonyms

to cripple
vsto disable
72 6.3

To cause serious harm that makes a person or thing unable to work properly

focuses on injuring people so bodily use is often permanently lost
to incapacitate
vsto disable
46 7.5

To make a person or thing not able to do normal activities

injures so severely that normal bodily use is often permanently lost
to immobilize
vsto disable
21 6.0

To stop movement or action

injures so severely that movement and other bodily functions are often permanently lost
to hamstring
vsto disable
1 7.9

To make a person or group unable to act effectively

injures so severely that bodily use is often permanently lost rather than merely restricted

Antonyms

to heal
481 1.2

To become healthy again after an injury, illness, or emotional pain

to restore
234 3.8

Make someone feel healthy and full of energy again

How Injured

to maim
  • NSFW
35 7.0
to paralyze
  • US
266 5.3
to disable
5 4.9
to injure
53 1.6

Surface Forms

disable infinitive
disabled past
disabled past participle
disabling present participle
disables third person singular

Morphology

disable = able (semi-transparent) = dis + able

The core sense 'make unable' is clear, but the specific conventional meaning of causing severe bodily injury is narrower than the morphology alone suggests.

Etymology

Disable comes from the parts dis- 'not' and able 'can'. That's why to disable a person originally means to make them 'not able' to use part of their body or to function as before.