disables

verb

present tense third-person singular of disable
1
as in incapacitates
to cause severe or permanent injury to a promising athlete who was severely disabled in a plane crash

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in paralyzes
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move disabled the controls for unauthorized users

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 disables Flock Safety is continuing to disregard whether a city cancels a contract or the police chief disables the company’s cameras. — Joel Feder, The Drive, 4 Nov. 2026 There's another control on the inside of each earcup—a switch on the left side that enters Flat EQ mode, which disables all processing, and a Bluetooth button on the right. — Christian De Looper, PC Magazine, 2 Nov. 2026 Raza also has a short-range signal jammer that disables Paladin’s drones. — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2026 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 The sole survivor disables HAL by disconnecting the power source. — Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Sep. 2026 Operating anywhere near the bottom effectively disables the reserve due to a hard legal stop and the loss of emergency flow rates. — Siddharth Misra, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026 If a collision disables the low-voltage electrical system, those familiar controls may stop working. — Peter Lyon, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disables
  1. incapacitates
  2. paralyzes
  3. cripples
  4. undermines
  5. injures
  6. weakens
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
  • 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
  • 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, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Federal illegality further cripples operations with banking and tax burdens.
    — Peter Su, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026
Definition of cripples
Verb
  • Using words like ghosts or spirits undermines what these entities actually are.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Nov. 2026
  • This not only calls into question how much extra food China truly has but also undermines public confidence in the government.
    — JOEL WUTHNOW, Foreign Affairs, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of undermines
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
  • El Niño is a tropical Pacific climate pattern that weakens trade winds, shifts jet streams, and can increase the risk of flooding, droughts, and wildfires.
    — Cindy Carcamo, Christian Science Monitor, 2 Nov. 2026
  • And perhaps most importantly, gerrymandering weakens accountability.
    — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of weakens

Browse Nearby Words

disablements
disables
disabling
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Cite this Entry

“Disables.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disables. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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