1
as in to incapacitate
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the car crash may have crippled two people for life
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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
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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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cripple
Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran's military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb.
—
James Powel, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb.
—Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 2 Apr. 2026
Iranian missile attacks this month crippled a key industrial center in Qatar, which produces about one-third of the world’s helium.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 31 Mar. 2026
The author takes an overnight Amtrak journey instead of a flight to Washington as the government shutdown cripples Atlanta’s airport.
—Bill Barrow, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cripple
James Powel, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb.
—Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 2 Apr. 2026
Iranian missile attacks this month crippled a key industrial center in Qatar, which produces about one-third of the world’s helium.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 31 Mar. 2026
The author takes an overnight Amtrak journey instead of a flight to Washington as the government shutdown cripples Atlanta’s airport.
—Bill Barrow, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cripple
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cripple
Verb
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Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Congressman Shri Thanedar called on the 25th Amendment to be invoked, which would ensure an orderly transfer of power if the president is incapacitated.—
Julia Avant,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
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Instead of using explosives, most attacks used carbon fiber bombs that incapacitated the facilities instead of destroying them.—
Chris Boccia,
ABC News,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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No people were injured, but a resident's cat died in the fire.—
Jose Fabian,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
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They were normally injured, inferior and underachieving.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Williams was paralyzed in the crash.—
Karen Morfitt,
CBS News,
4 Apr. 2026
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Inky Johnson left college football due to an injury that paralyzed his right arm.—
Haley Sawyer,
Daily News,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Some of these technologies are essential for ensuring the proper functioning of the service or website and cannot be disabled, while others are optional but serve to enhance the user experience in various ways.—
Mano Sundaresan,
Pitchfork,
7 Apr. 2026
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Officers deployed a spike strip to disable the vehicle, which subsequently was involved in three minor vehicle collisions while trying to evade police.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Red Cross said the crash damaged the building and forced three families — a total of 10 people — from their homes.—
Eva Andersen,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
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Reports and satellite images later showed large parts of the city heavily damaged or reduced to rubble.—
Maliha Rahman,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Long-range drone and missile strikes have been a key element of the conflict as both Kyiv and Moscow seek to degrade the other's economy and undermine their ability to prosecute and fund the ongoing war.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
6 Apr. 2026
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However, those efforts could be undermined by a recent increase in 2-year yields that threatens to compress excess spreads, according to Bank of America.—
Liz Napolitano,
CNBC,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Crosby followed Saturday’s two-point performance by producing a goal and two assists as the Penguins had little trouble in disposing of the exhausted and wounded defending champs in a 5-2 victory on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.—
Josh Yohe,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2026
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Three people were wounded in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa in a separate drone attack.—
Serra Yedikardes,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Their reunion tour — which was somehow not marred by any type of familial controversy — sold out stadiums around the world and overexcelled in every conceivable way, setting the template for what the future of band reunions could look like and solidifying their legacy.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
2 Apr. 2026
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Ancient lava fields can be seen as dark lunar maria marring the silvery lunar surface, which themselves are threaded with bright streaks of reflective debris strewn across the surface by violent asteroid strikes.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cripple.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cripple. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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