injure

verb in·jure \ ˈin-jər \

Definition of injure

injured; injuring play \ˈinj-riŋ, ˈin-jə-\

transitive verb

1 a :to do an injustice to :wrong

b :to harm, impair, or tarnish the standing of

injured his reputation

c :to give pain to

injure a person's pride

2 a :to inflict bodily hurt on

b :to impair the soundness of

injured her health

c :to inflict material damage or loss on

—

injurer

play \ˈin-jər-ər\ noun

See injure defined for English-language learners

See injure defined for kids

Examples of injure in a Sentence

She fell and injured herself.
She fell and slightly injured her arm.
Several people were badly injured in the accident.

Recent Examples of injure from the Web

Several people were injured, including Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

— sydney ember, New York Times, "Sarah Palin’s Defamation Suit Against The New York Times Is Dismissed," 29 Aug. 2017
The only guarantees in the NFL are that the owners will make gobs of money and the players will be injured.

— sam mellinger, kansascity, "Mellinger Minutes: Royals scoreless streak, Chiefs running backs, NFL’s future," 29 Aug. 2017
Violence ensued, and Ohio resident James Alex Fields reportedly rammed his vehicle into the crowd, killing counter-protester Heather Heyer and injuring several others.

— jessie balmert, Cincinnati.com, "Post-Charlottesville, Ohio GOP wants to allow protests anywhere on campus," 29 Aug. 2017
Offensive line: Former five-star recruit Landon Young is listed as the co-starter at left tackle with 2016 No. 1 right tackle Kyle Meadows as Kentucky works to replace injured senior Cole Mosier.

— jon hale, The Courier-Journal, "Stephen Johnson listed as starting quarterback on week-one depth chart," 28 Aug. 2017
A Clairemont man who seriously injured his 87-year-old father by beating him with a crowbar was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

— dana littlefield, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Clairemont man gets prison for attacking elderly father with a crowbar," 28 Aug. 2017
However, no firefighters were injured, fire officials said.

— Daily Southtown, "Fire breaks out at 'Blues Brothers' prison in Joliet, police say," 28 Aug. 2017
Hurricane Harvey hit Texas hard on Friday, leading three people to die, at least 12 to be injured, and hundreds of thousands to lose power.

— suzannah weiss, Teen Vogue, "How to Help the Victims of Hurricane Harvey," 27 Aug. 2017
The incident occurred less than two weeks after James Fields drove his car into a crowd of counterprotestors in Charlottesville, killing Heather Heyers and injuring 19 people.

— paula rogo, Essence.com, "Car Rams Into St. Louis Crowd At Vigil For Transgender Woman Kiwi Herring," 24 Aug. 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of injure

Middle English enjuren, from Anglo-French *enjurer, from Late Latin injuriare, from Latin injuria injury

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First Known Use: 15th century

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injure Synonyms

Synonyms

damage, harm, hurt, wound

Antonyms

doctor, fix, mend, patch, rebuild, recondition, reconstruct, renovate, repair, revamp

Related Words

batter, bloody, blow out, bruise, contuse, cut, gash, gore, lacerate, scald, scar, scathe, strain, tear; crease, graze, nick; cripple, hamstring, lame, maim, mangle, mutilate; abuse, aggrieve, afflict, maltreat, torment, torture; lay up; blemish, impair, mar, scrape, spoil

Near Antonyms

cure, fix, heal, mend, remedy

Synonym Discussion of injure

injure, harm, hurt, damage, impair, mar mean to affect injuriously. injure implies the inflicting of anything detrimental to one's looks, comfort, health, or success.

- badly injured in an accident

harm often stresses the inflicting of pain, suffering, or loss.

- careful not to harm the animals

hurt implies inflicting a wound to the body or to the feelings.

- hurt by their callous remarks

damage suggests injury that lowers value or impairs usefulness.

- a table damaged in shipping

impair suggests a making less complete or efficient by deterioration or diminution.

- years of smoking had impaired his health

mar applies to injury that spoils perfection (as of a surface) or causes disfigurement.

- the text is marred by many typos

INJURE Defined for English Language Learners

injure

verb

Definition of injure for English Language Learners

: to harm or damage (someone or something)

INJURE Defined for Kids

injure

verb in·jure \ ˈin-jər \

Definition of injure for Students

injured; injuring

:to cause pain or harm to

Two people were injured in the accident.

The criticism injured my pride.

Medical Dictionary

injure

transitive verb in·jure \ ˈin-jər \

medical Definition of injure

injured; injuring play \ˈinj-(ə-)riŋ\

1 :to inflict bodily hurt on

2 :to impair the soundness of

injure your health

Law Dictionary

injure

transitive verb in·jure

legal Definition of injure

injured; injuring

1 :to interfere with or violate the legally protected interests of: as

a :to harm the physical, emotional, or mental well-being of

b :to cause (another) to suffer from damage to, deprivation of, or interference with property or a property interest

c :to violate the constitutionally or otherwise legally protected rights of

2 :to mar or impair the soundness or appearance of (as a building) :deface

in jure

adverb in ju·re \ in-ˈju̇r-ē, -ˈyü-rā \

legal Definition of in jure

:in right, law, or justice

Origin and Etymology of in jure

Latin

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INJURE Defined for English Language Learners

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injure

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injure

medical Definition of injure

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legal Definition of injure

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