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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 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 An ongoing alien siege cripples the world’s militaries, infrastructure, and communication centers but Will can run Premiere Pro, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and remote control a Tesla all at the same time. — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 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
  • Early on in the clip, Jake Johnson’s former tennis star Dusty Boyd trips over the net and injures his wrist in a bad way.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 23 June 2026
  • Who is responsible when a robot breaks something or injures someone?
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 June 2026
Definition of injures
Verb
  • Fear, like ignorance, shuts our eyes to and paralyzes our trust in God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and unfailing love for His children, whereas the understanding of God’s ever-present goodness removes the fear that generates suffering.
    — André Kisonga, Christian Science Monitor, 30 June 2026
  • These opportunists drown out the core mission, creating a cacophony of competing voices that confuses donors, crowd the inboxes of CEOs and members of Congress with colliding petitions, and paralyzes meaningful action by draining critical funding and attention away from the truly effective groups.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 28 June 2026
Definition of paralyzes
Verb
  • Apple has a similar feature on the iPhone where pressing the side and volume buttons simultaneously disables Face ID.
    — Janhoi McGregor, Forbes.com, 27 June 2026
  • Five of eight inbound vessels were said to be dark, which is when a ship disables its Automatic Identification System, or AIS, transponder to hide its location, identity and destination.
    — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 22 June 2026
Definition of disables
Verb
  • In some diseases such as frontal lobe dementia, which damages executive function instead of memory, tangles can accumulate without the presence of amyloid.
    — Sandee LaMotte, CNN Money, 15 July 2026
  • Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza wants to help make a difference for people who, like his mom, are living with multiple sclerosis, or MS, a chronic condition that attacks and damages the body’s nervous system.
    — Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 10 July 2026
Definition of damages
Verb
  • While American fans were glad to have him back, the arbitrary way this decision was reached undermines the integrity of the sport.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 10 July 2026
  • The plaintiffs further insist that the NCAA allowing former G League players and other ex-pros to play undermines the association’s position that Borovicanin and his fellow plaintiffs can’t play.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 7 July 2026
Definition of undermines
Verb
  • 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 16 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on cripples

Nglish: Translation of cripples for Spanish Speakers

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