enabled; enabling
i-ˈnā-b(ə-)liŋ 
1
a
: to provide with the means or opportunity
training that enables people to earn a living
b
: to make possible, practical, or easy
a deal that would enable passage of a new law
c
: to cause to operate
software that enables the keyboard
2
: to give legal power, capacity, or sanction to
a law enabling admission of a state
Did you know?
Enabling: The Behavior of an Enabler
Enable has a number of senses, most of which are some variant on allowing someone (or something, such as enabling cookies on a computer) to do something. In the past several decades, enable has also started to take on a new associated sense in the field of addiction studies, where enabling is viewed as giving misguided support to a person with some substance-abuse issue. A person who facilitates the self-destructive behavior of another is referred to as an enabler.
Examples of enable in a Sentence
The machine enables us to create copies without losing quality.
The system enables students to access class materials online.
These choices are part of what enabled the company to be successful.
a filing system that enables easy access to information
Be sure to enable your computer's firewall.
Recent Examples on the Web
The upgrades would enable fighter jets and cargo planes to use the base.
—
Shirsho Dasgupta, Miami Herald, 1 Dec. 2025
However, the buoyant stock market — driven by the billions being invested by technology firms in artificial intelligence — is enabling higher-income consumers to continue to spend.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 1 Dec. 2025
Instead, the focus should be on changing production practices to allow for living wages that support a better life and work-life balance for workers—for instance, enabling them to afford to send their children to school and allowing for time off.
—Sj Studio, Sourcing Journal, 1 Dec. 2025
Lending money would just be enabling the underlying behavior.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 1 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for enable
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Shirsho Dasgupta, Miami Herald, 1 Dec. 2025
However, the buoyant stock market — driven by the billions being invested by technology firms in artificial intelligence — is enabling higher-income consumers to continue to spend.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 1 Dec. 2025
Instead, the focus should be on changing production practices to allow for living wages that support a better life and work-life balance for workers—for instance, enabling them to afford to send their children to school and allowing for time off.
—Sj Studio, Sourcing Journal, 1 Dec. 2025
Lending money would just be enabling the underlying behavior.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 1 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for enable
Cite this Entry
“Enable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enable. Accessed 2 Dec. 2025.
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