cripples

verb

present tense third-person singular of cripple
1
as in incapacitates
to cause severe or permanent injury to the car crash may have crippled two people for life

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2
as in injures
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 paralyzes
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move a wave of strikes crippled that nation's steel industry

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cripples According to official figures, even when the thermometer plummets to minus 22 °F (-30 °C), a situation that cripples most electric vehicles, the Atto 8 can still execute a 20 % to 97% charge in just 12 minutes. — New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026 Federal illegality further cripples operations with banking and tax burdens. — Peter Su, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026 In the final version of the film, Furiosa captures Dementus, cripples him, brings him back to the Citadel. — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 17 June 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 These pressures could produce a tsunami that fractures the state’s fiscal foundation, self-inflicts a crisis ultimately demanding drastic cuts, and cripples its competitiveness. — Andrew Rein, New York Daily News, 6 Jan. 2026 Scarface and friends attack the lab, and break out the kryptonite that cripples El and Kali. — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 31 Dec. 2025 Second, this ambiguity around responsibility cripples an organization’s ability to respond effectively. — Nelson Lim, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2025 Drones allow aggressors to target critical infrastructure that cripples a defender’s economy at low cost and with high accuracy. — Omar Al-Ubaydli, semafor.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cripples
  1. incapacitates
  2. injures
  3. paralyzes
  4. disables
  5. damages
  6. undermines
  7. maims
  8. mars
Verb
  • The Martian tells the story of astronaut Mark Watney, who becomes stranded on Mars after a dust storm incapacitates him.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 28 May 2026
  • Lorenzo confronts and incapacitates Pepe, Sonia’s main ally, before facing Sonia herself.
    — Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 24 Sep. 2025
Definition of incapacitates
Verb
  • The agency defines an attack as an incident where a bear injures or kills a person.
    — Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 21 Sep. 2026
  • This pest injures the host plant by using its piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on plant sap.
    — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of injures
Verb
  • During REM sleep, one of the periods of rest when dreams are most likely, the brainstem paralyzes the body’s muscles, except, of course, those that move our eyes and keep us breathing.
    — RJ Mackenzie, Popular Science, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Kosowski, prosecutors theorized, killed Cozzi with succinylcholine, a fast-acting drug that paralyzes muscles, and threw his body in a Collier County dumpster during a drive to Miami.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of paralyzes
Verb
  • Before installing certain malicious apps, Midnight Mimosa temporarily disables the Google Play Store app.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Among the new tools in the agency's arsenal is an artificial intelligence and radar-guided drone hunter, which disables enemy drones and captures them with a net.
    — Norah O'Donnell, CBS News, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of disables
Verb
  • Over time, the bullying creates a toxic environment that damages relationships between faculty and students and hurts the quality of education for everyone.
    — Jason Walker, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2026
  • How remibrutinib works Remibrutinib belongs to a class of medicines known as BTK inhibitors, which aim to reduce the immune system activity that damages nerves in MS patients.
    — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of damages
Verb
  • Anyone who compromises sensitive national security information puts the lives of our Warriors at risk and undermines every military operation that keeps our country safe.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Oct. 2026
  • According to Ipsos, 56 percent of Americans believe sports betting undermines the integrity of the games—up 19 percentage points since 2023.
    — Josh Appel, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of undermines
Verb
  • Penal Code 597 states that any person who who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, tortures, or wounds a living animal is guilty of a crime.
    — Martha Ross, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2026
  • The attack only maims Aegon, who is left bedridden and unable to walk on his own.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 20 June 2026
Definition of maims
Verb
  • Especially the guy who bangs a wrecking ball against the historic East Wing to make room for an incongruous ballroom monstrosity, who mars the sacred Oval Office with gold glitter and paves over the lovely Rose Garden.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Jacob Whitehead Homophobic chant mars Mexico’s win Before the World Cup, the Mexican football federation launched a campaign that featured the heroes of the country’s 1986 World Cup side.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 26 June 2026
Definition of mars

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Cite this Entry

“Cripples.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cripples. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

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