incapacitate

verb in·ca·pac·i·tate \ ˌin-kə-ˈpa-sə-ˌtāt \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

Definition of incapacitate

incapacitated; incapacitating

transitive verb

1 : to make legally incapable or ineligible

2 : to deprive of capacity or natural power : disable

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incapacitation

play \ˌin-kə-ˌpa-sə-ˈtā-shən\ noun

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Examples of incapacitate in a Sentence

The class teaches you how to incapacitate an attacker.
The stroke left her completely incapacitated.
He was incapacitated by the pain.
a computer system incapacitated by software problems

Recent Examples of incapacitate from the Web

The incident resulted in a push to increase penalties in Missouri for killing or incapacitating K9s.

— matt campbell, kansascity, "Dax, K9 for KCK police, gets a protective vest worth more $1,700 | The Kansas City Star," 16 Mar. 2018
Kelly Johnson testified that Cosby gave her drugs that incapacitated her and then assaulted her.

— eric levenson, CNN, "Bill Cosby is on trial again. But a lot has changed since his mistrial last year," 31 Mar. 2018
Some family members and legal experts thought not, since Edith had been declared incapacitated.

— judith graham, Washington Post, "A Tale of Love, Family Conflict And Battles Over Care For An Aging Mother," 1 Mar. 2018
This less lethal alternative is specifically designed to incapacitate without causing serious bodily injury.

— caleb downs, San Antonio Express-News, "Details about I-35 standoff released," 20 Feb. 2018
Tasers shoot a pair of dart-like electrodes that are supposed to strike a person, with a current between the electrodes then incapacitating them.

— evan sernoffsky, San Francisco Chronicle, "Long fight over San Francisco cops carrying Tasers heats up again," 13 Mar. 2018
As a measure of how powerful the substance used to incapacitate him is, the British government has asked that people who patronized a restaurant and pub that the Skripals visited before they were discovered to wash their possessions as a precaution.

— benjamin hart, Daily Intelligencer, "Theresa May: Russia Probably Behind Poisoning on British Soil," 12 Mar. 2018
Though incapacitated from his fall, Walker still resisted officers, who saw Walker's condition deteriorate and tried to save his life, St. John the Baptist Sheriff Mike Tregre said during the news conference.

— laura mcknight, NOLA.com, "Suspects in Metairie clothing store robbery named, including man who fell to death," 8 Mar. 2018
In the short term, police need better training in the use of non-lethal means of incapacitating suspects, such as tasers.

— The Economist, "Crime and justiceIn some countries, killer cops are celebrated," 8 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'incapacitate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.