1
as in to incapacitate
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the car crash may have crippled two people for life
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to injure
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
the collision so severely crippled the ship that it had to be towed into port
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to paralyze
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
a wave of strikes crippled that nation's steel industry
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cripple
Many Israeli commanders have argued that the proliferation of drones necessitated an expansion of the war against Hezbollah, arguing for strikes and operations farther north to cripple its drone supply lines.
—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
24 June 2026
This comes at a dire time for Venezuela, which is still deep in political and financial crisis – being led by an interim government after US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year, and facing an economy crippled by years of hyperinflation.
—
Taylor Ward,
CNN Money,
24 June 2026
The 1918 pandemic made clear that a respiratory virus could cripple an army.
—
Katrine L. Wallace,
The Conversation,
24 June 2026
The move on Monday marks the most sweeping rollback of American oil sanctions against Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reversing years of pressure designed to cripple Iran's economy, and is expected to deliver billions in oil revenue for the Iranian regime.
—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
23 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for cripple
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
24 June 2026
This comes at a dire time for Venezuela, which is still deep in political and financial crisis – being led by an interim government after US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year, and facing an economy crippled by years of hyperinflation.
—
Taylor Ward,
CNN Money,
24 June 2026
The 1918 pandemic made clear that a respiratory virus could cripple an army.
—
Katrine L. Wallace,
The Conversation,
24 June 2026
The move on Monday marks the most sweeping rollback of American oil sanctions against Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reversing years of pressure designed to cripple Iran's economy, and is expected to deliver billions in oil revenue for the Iranian regime.
—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
23 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for cripple
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cripple
Verb
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Airbus UpNext's DragonFly project is developing AI that manages complex emergencies autonomously when the crew is incapacitated.
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According to the law enforcement investigation, Garcia activated her Taser seven times in a row in about a minute, with the State Patrol concluding that three to four of those activations occurred after Tomlinson was already incapacitated by the initial Taser deployments.
Verb
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The Jackson County charges came after police accused Sanchez-Munoz in a series of shootings in Kansas City that left one man, Jeremy Keenan, dead and four others injured on June 16.
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French and Ukrainian media reported that a Ukrainian magnate and his family were those injured.
Verb
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Once injected with venom, the prey is paralyzed and drained of bodily fluids.
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The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine and even some parts of Canada from March 12 to March 14.
Verb
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On June 12, the administration invoked export-control authority to bar foreign-national access to both models (including Anthropic’s own non-citizen staff), which forced the company to disable them worldwide.
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One of its eyes was disabled, and its wiring was exposed; an employee was kicking it repeatedly.
Verb
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Some of these storms could be severe and deliver damaging wind gusts, but any thunderstorm will contain lightning — a major danger for any outdoor activities, especially for anyone trying to escape the heat in or on the water.
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Diseases that damage the kidneys and impair their ability to filter blood were blamed for 55,081 deaths in 2024.
Verb
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Context that undermines sensational allegations is minimized.
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Allies include Brin’s Building a Better California, which is bankrolling two counter-measures aimed at undermining the billionaire tax.
Verb
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He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.
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He reportedly was wounded in the attack that killed his father and has not been seen publicly since the war began.
Verb
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The World Cup group stage was marred for fans whose experiences mirrored Ramroop’s, leading FIFA and third-party platforms like StubHub to point fingers at each other amid the fallout.
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His previous loan at Girona was marred by injuries, impacting his World Cup aspirations.
Cite this Entry
“Cripple.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cripple. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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