1
as in to incapacitate
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the car crash may have crippled two people for life
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to injure
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
the collision so severely crippled the ship that it had to be towed into port
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to paralyze
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
a wave of strikes crippled that nation's steel industry
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cripple
The fall broke both his legs, crippling him.
—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
14 June 2026
Candidates whose public image depends on favorable coverage can be crippled by bad headlines.
—
Matthew Shelter,
New York Daily News,
13 June 2026
The Ukrainian military sank several Russian warships in the Black Sea and at their Crimean bases, crippling Moscow’s naval capability and forcing it to redeploy its fleet to Novorossiysk.
—
ABC News,
11 June 2026
However, thanks to this unconventional build, Argus can traverse a wide range of terrains, move with equal ease in almost any direction, and shrug off damage that would cripple many robots.
—
New Atlas,
9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for cripple
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
14 June 2026
Candidates whose public image depends on favorable coverage can be crippled by bad headlines.
—
Matthew Shelter,
New York Daily News,
13 June 2026
The Ukrainian military sank several Russian warships in the Black Sea and at their Crimean bases, crippling Moscow’s naval capability and forcing it to redeploy its fleet to Novorossiysk.
—
ABC News,
11 June 2026
However, thanks to this unconventional build, Argus can traverse a wide range of terrains, move with equal ease in almost any direction, and shrug off damage that would cripple many robots.
—
New Atlas,
9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for cripple
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cripple
Verb
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Airbus UpNext's DragonFly project is developing AI that manages complex emergencies autonomously when the crew is incapacitated.
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According to the law enforcement investigation, Garcia activated her Taser seven times in a row in about a minute, with the State Patrol concluding that three to four of those activations occurred after Tomlinson was already incapacitated by the initial Taser deployments.
Verb
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The Jackson County charges came after police accused Sanchez-Munoz in a series of shootings in Kansas City that left one man, Jeremy Keenan, dead and four others injured on June 16.
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French and Ukrainian media reported that a Ukrainian magnate and his family were those injured.
Verb
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While receiving treatment at a British base, Derek learned that he was paralyzed from the chest down.
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With endless criteria, knowing exactly what to ask for from a pair of jean shorts is paralyzing.
Verb
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On June 12, the administration invoked export-control authority to bar foreign-national access to both models (including Anthropic’s own non-citizen staff), which forced the company to disable them worldwide.
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One of its eyes was disabled, and its wiring was exposed; an employee was kicking it repeatedly.
Verb
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Driving through deep water can also damage a vehicle's mechanical and electrical systems.
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Bahrain and Kuwait say they were targeted by Tehran, with a residential building in Bahrain heavily damaged in the attack.
Verb
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Kirk had disappeared from their feeds, and Erika Kirk had gone viral for the wrong reasons—taking the stage at her husband’s memorial service amid pyrotechnics and attempting her own campus tour, undermining her image as a Christian trad wife whose priorities were her family and her home.
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Over his 18-year tenure at the Fed, Greenspan embodied the omnipotent technocrat — a legacy critics say was fatally undermined by his failure to spot the 2008 housing bubble.
Verb
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One person was killed and another was wounded during a shooting in an unincorporated part of Riverside County on Sunday.
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These two stood ready to wound the pigs as soon as Red Beard was done saying goodbye.
Verb
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Jacob Whitehead Homophobic chant mars Mexico’s win Before the World Cup, the Mexican football federation launched a campaign that featured the heroes of the country’s 1986 World Cup side.
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Starmer is leaving after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.
Cite this Entry
“Cripple.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cripple. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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