paralyze

verb

par·​a·​lyze ˈper-ə-ˌlīz 

ˈpa-rə-

paralyzed; paralyzing

transitive verb

1

: to affect with paralysis

The snake's venom paralyzed the mouse.

2

: to make powerless or ineffective

A strike would paralyze the industry.

3

: unnerve

the paralyzing thing is the uncertainty

—Evelyn Whitehead

4

: stun, stupefy

I would paralyze the empire with the news!

—Rudyard Kipling

5

: to bring to an end : prevent, destroy

deadlock paralyzed action

—F. A. Ogg & Harold Zink

paralyzation

ˌper-ə-lə-ˈzā-shən 

ˌpa-rə-

noun

paralyzer

ˈper-ə-ˌlī-zər 

ˈpa-rə-

noun

paralyzingly

ˈper-ə-ˌlī-ziŋ-lē 

ˈpa-rə

adverb

Synonyms

• cripple
• disable
• hamstring
• immobilize
• incapacitate
• prostrate

Examples of paralyze in a Sentence

The snake's venom paralyzed the mouse.

The air strikes have paralyzed the city's transportation system.

The company was paralyzed by debt.

Recent Examples on the Web

The French part of the Franco-Dutch airline was being torn apart by labor troubles and paralyzed by strikes — made famous by a photograph in 2015 of company executives fleeing over a fence with their shirts ripped off by protesters. —Albertina Torsoli, Fortune, 22 Apr. 2024

Those rulings have paralyzed cities’ ability to address deteriorating street conditions. —Stephen Eide, National Review, 21 Apr. 2024

Cawthorn was partially paralyzed in a 2014 car crash near Daytona Beach while traveling back to North Carolina from a spring break trip to Florida. —Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2024

The second drug paralyzes the muscles, and the third stops the heart. —Chiara Eisner, NPR, 18 Apr. 2024

Many of them described feeling paralyzed by grief and despair in Navalny’s absence. —Simon Shuster / Vilnius, TIME, 17 Apr. 2024

Neuralink released a nine-minute video in which its first human patient, who is paralyzed below his shoulders, appears to move a cursor across a laptop screen with nothing but his thoughts. —David Ingram, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2024

Scholz is leading a zombie government paralyzed by a backlash against a deteriorating economy, high migration, divisive foreign policy, and an ambitious climate-change agenda. —Joseph De Weck, The Atlantic, 20 Mar. 2024

The Dali brought down a huge span of the bridge over the Patapsco River last week, killing six construction workers and paralyzing shipping in one of the nation’s busiest ports after a still-unexplained power failure. —Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French paralyser, back-formation from paralysie paralysis, from Latin paralysis

First Known Use

1763, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

paralyze

verb

par·​a·​lyze ˈpar-ə-ˌlīz 

paralyzed; paralyzing

1

: to affect with paralysis

2

: to make powerless or unable to act, function, or move

Medical Definition

paralyze

transitive verb

par·​a·​lyze

variants or British paralyse

ˈpar-ə-ˌlīz 

paralyzed or British paralysed; paralyzing or British paralysing

: to affect with paralysis

paralyzation noun

or British paralysation

ˌpar-ə-lə-ˈzā-shən