dislocate

verb

dis·​lo·​cate ˈdis-lō-ˌkāt 

-lə-;

(ˌ)dis-ˈlō- 

dislocated; dislocating; dislocates

transitive verb

1

: to put out of place

specifically : to displace (a bone) from normal connections with another bone

2

: to force a change in the usual status, relationship, or order of : disrupt

Synonyms of dislocate

• relocate
• move
• remove
• transfer
• shift
• disturb

Examples of dislocate in a Sentence

She fell and dislocated her shoulder.

The new hotel will dislocate several businesses.

Thousands of workers have been dislocated by the latest economic crisis.

Recent Examples on the Web

Pribula, just one month after dislocating his ankle against Vanderbilt, made the start for the Tigers but was mostly unremarkable outside of leading an eight-minute scoring drive to start the game. —Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 23 Nov. 2025

Washington Commanders fans saw their franchise quarterback go down with an agonizing injury yet again earlier this week, as Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow in gruesome fashion. —Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 15 Nov. 2025

Skattebo dislocated his ankle, fractured his fibula and ruptured his deltoid ligament on the play in question, all of which will combine to sideline him for the remainder of the regular season. —Max Dible, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025

Zoey was allegedly diagnosed with Nursemaid’s elbow, a common elbow injury among young children and toddlers that occurs when a child’s elbow is pulled and one of the bones partially dislocates. —Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin dislocatus, past participle of dislocare, from Latin dis- + locare to locate

First Known Use

1601, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

dislocate

verb

dis·​lo·​cate ˈdis-lō-ˌkāt 

(ˈ)dis-ˈlō-

1

: to put out of place

especially : to displace (a bone) from normal connections with another bone

2

: disrupt

Medical Definition

dislocate

transitive verb

dis·​lo·​cate ˈdis-lō-ˌkāt  -lə-; (ˈ)dis-ˈlō-ˌkāt 

dislocated; dislocating

: to put (a body part) out of order by displacing a bone from its normal connections with another bone

he dislocated his shoulder

also : to displace (a bone) from normal connections with another bone

the humerus was dislocated in the fall