injure

play

verb in·jure \ˈin-jər\

Definition of injure

injured

;

injuring

play \ˈinj-riŋ, ˈin-jə-\

transitive verb
1a : to do an injustice to : wrongb : to harm, impair, or tarnish the standing of injured his reputationc : to give pain to injure a person's pride
2a : to inflict bodily hurt onb : to impair the soundness of injured her healthc : 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

Hospital officials have said Scalise, 51, would need multiple operations and many weeks to recover after a single bullet tore through his pelvis, fracturing bones, injuring organs and causing severe bleeding.

— billy house, Bloomberg.com, "Scalise Readmitted to Intensive Care Unit Over Infection Concern", 6 July 2017
Authorities said Lloyd Jackson, 21, also attempted to disarm an officer of his gun and kicked a New Orleans EMS worker after injuring a 3-year-old girl.

— ken daley, NOLA.com, "Feds charge mentally ill man with damaging Social Security office in Kenner", 6 July 2017
An 18-year-old man was killed and three others were injured in a shooting on the Fourth of July in Gary, according to police.

— becky jacobs, Post-Tribune, "Man killed, 3 injured in Gary 4th of July shooting", 5 July 2017
A day earlier, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at a camp for displaced people west of Baghdad, killing 14 and injuring 13.

— aria bendix, The Atlantic, "Hundreds of ISIS Fighters Remain in Mosul", 5 July 2017
An article on Monday about two military veterans who recently received robotic arms transposed how the men were injured.

— New York Times, "Corrections: July 6, 2017", 5 July 2017
No one was injured and the fire was contained to the garage and a neighboring fence, sparing the home on the property, officials at the scene said.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Trump looks east for new foreign policy", 5 July 2017
Chris Bosh, who missed nine consecutive games after injuring an abdominal muscle in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, announced his full return to health with an emphatic 19 points.

— joseph goodman, miamiherald, "The Bosh ‘Big 3’ game that propelled the Miami Heat into the NBA Finals", 4 July 2017
ArkansasMatters.com reported earlier Monday that three of McFadden’s relatives—23-year-old Marvell Harris, 35-year-old Wallace Muhammad, and 16-year-old Marquette Muhammad—were among those injured.

— dan gartland, SI.com, "Darren McFadden confirms relatives were injured in Little Rock shooting", 4 July 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

See Words from the same year

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

play

verb

Definition of injure for English Language Learners

: to harm or damage (someone or something)

INJURE Defined for Kids

injure

play

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

play

transitive verb in·jure \ˈin-jər\

Medical Definition of injure

injured

;

injuring

\ˈinj-(ə-)riŋ\play

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