paralyze

verb

par·a·lyze | \ ˈper-ə-ˌlīz ,

ˈpa-rə- \

paralyzed; paralyzing

Definition of paralyze

transitive verb

1 : to affect with paralysis The snake's venom paralyzed the mouse.

2 : to make powerless or ineffective A strike would paralyze the industry.

3 : unnerve the parlyzing thing is the uncertainty —Evelyn Whitehead

4 : stun, stupefy She sat paralyzed when she heard the news.

5 : to bring to an end : prevent, destroy deadlock paralyzed action —F. A. Ogg & Harold Zink

Other Words from paralyze Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about paralyze

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Other words from paralyze

paralyzation \ˌper-ə-lə-ˈzā-shən,

ˌpa-rə- \ noun

paralyzer \ˈper-ə-ˌlī-zər,

ˈpa-rə- \ noun

paralyzingly \ˈper-ə-ˌlī-ziŋ-lē,

ˈpa-rə \ adverb

Synonyms & Antonyms for paralyze

Synonyms

demoralize, emasculate, undo, unman, unnerve, unstring

Antonyms

nerve

Examples of paralyze in a Sentence

The snake's venom paralyzed the mouse. The air strikes have paralyzed the city's transportation system. The company was paralyzed by debt.

Recent Examples on the Web

Other visitors have been paralyzed or otherwise seriously injured after slipping and falling off the lower and upper falls along the Graveyard Fields loop trail in Canton over the years, Parton said. — Joe Marusak, charlotteobserver, "Boy falls 30-60 feet down a steep NC waterfall — and lived," 10 July 2018 Britain is set to leave the E.U. in March, but the government has been paralyzed by internal divisions over the country’s future relationship with the E.U. after Brexit. — Alasdair Sandford, NBC News, "Boris Johnson suggests U.K. needs to act like Trump on Brexit," 8 June 2018 When Webber received the inbound, he was paralyzed and couldn’t decide between throwing the pass to Jalen Rose or dribbling the ball himself. — Chris Chase, For The Win, "The 11 luckiest moments in sports history," 16 May 2018 Not long afterwards, she was completely paralyzed from the neck down. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "What Is Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma? Abby Lee Miller Is Diagnosed With Blood Cancer," 19 Apr. 2018 Bailey had been a former professional surfer before he was paralyzed from the waist down in a skateboarding accident. — Ramona Sentinel, "Family learns life lessons at adaptive surfing event," 21 Feb. 2018 The bullet had punctured Javier’s lung and hit his spine, paralyzing him. — Cincinnati.com, "Aftermath: 'You're going back to East Oakland'," 4 June 2018 Polio had left thousands of children paralyzed, and Salk’s vaccine is rightly viewed as a triumph of 20th-century science. — Amanda Schaffer, WIRED, "The Dying Scientist and His Rogue Vaccine Trial," 1 May 2018 The state’s education commissioner had suspended the district’s elected trustees, who had been paralyzed by a 3-3 voting deadlock, but reinstated two of them on Monday. — Krista Torralva, San Antonio Express-News, "Two years after takeover, state eases control of Edgewood ISD," 2 July 2018

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