mutilating

verb

present participle of mutilate
as in crippling
to cause severe or permanent injury to was lucky not to be mutilated in the car crash

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 mutilating East Village resident Daniel Rakowitz was charged with killing and mutilating a female acquaintance in 1989, then trying to get rid of the evidence by making soup out of her remains and serving it in Tompkins Square Park. — Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 23 Sep. 2026 The 21-year-old pleaded not guilty last month to charges including first-degree murder with special circumstances, lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14 and mutilating a body. — Austin Turner, CBS News, 7 Sep. 2026 Guess which mowing league isn't mutilating hedgehogs? — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 June 2026 Tony Lee Hughes, 38, of the 600 block of Camelot Manor, is charged with Level 6 felonies of killing a domestic animal and mutilating a vertebrate animal. — Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026 Apparently, their definition of resistance is to gang rape as many women and men of all ages as possible before torturing, mutilating and murdering them. — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 14 May 2026 Burke is formally charged with murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body. — ABC News, 20 Apr. 2026 The strikes have also ripped through the historic palaces my father proudly showed me as a child, mutilating Iran’s ancient cultural heritage. — Alex Shams, Time, 14 Mar. 2026 Nationwide, the first successful prosecution happened in 2016 when a Houston man was sentenced to five years for creating videos that featured a woman mutilating and killing puppies, chickens and kittens and distributing them on the internet. — Jay Weaver, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mutilating
  1. crippling
  2. incapacitating
  3. wounding
  4. injuring
  5. maiming
  6. disabling
  7. damaging
  8. killing
Verb
  • In the days after the ceasefire broke down, the Houthis announced a blockade on Saudi shipping, and launched attacks crippling Saudi Arabia’s oil export infrastructure.
    — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
  • An explosion tore through the Apollo 13 service module, crippling the spacecraft and venting the crew’s oxygen supply into space.
    — Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of crippling
Verb
  • Fragments of the powerhouse author’s path to her incapacitating accident then unfold through Lowen’s POV, starting with Verity’s steamy first encounter with Jeremy.
    — Fawnia Soo Hoo, Allure, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Smit Machchhar with the cockpit's crash axe, incapacitating him and causing the aircraft to plummet before passengers on board seized control of the plane.
    — Michael Sinkewicz , Elizabeth Pritchett, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of incapacitating
Verb
  • Russia also attacked warehouse facilities in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region on Friday, wounding three people, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said on Telegram.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The officer fired seven rounds into a car, city officials said, wounding the man while a 5-year-old boy was sat in the back seat.
    — Jamie Ross, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of wounding
Verb
  • Kyiv region military administration head Tymur Tkachenko said on Saturday that a warehouse and production premise had been hit, injuring four people.
    — Svitlana Vlasova, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Elephants can be extremely destructive and dangerous, and several African countries must confront the problem of elephant herds destroying farmers’ crops and infrastructure as well as killing or injuring people.
    — Sello Motseta, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of injuring
Verb
  • That’s how this season starts, and Reacher’s methods of maiming and/or killing only get more elaborate.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Its entire loop revolved around strategic mechanical dismemberment, a concept perfected all the way back in Ninja Gaiden 2, where maiming enemies directly fed into brutal instant finishers.
    — Gabriel Zamora, PC Magazine, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of maiming
Verb
  • The next day, Ukrainian drones hit the company's major data center in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, disabling part of the facility, Yandex said.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The next day, Ukrainian drones hit the company’s major data center in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, disabling part of the facilty, Yandex said.
    — Susie Blann, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of disabling
Verb
  • The kingdom acknowledged on Tuesday that two of its airports were attacked, leaving three lightly injured and damaging the facilities.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Those concerns deserve to be heard, but damaging property is not the answer.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of damaging
Verb
  • In a small Idaho town, a young mother is accused of killing her young twins.
    — Glenn Thrush Eric Schmitt Liam Stack Tim Balk, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Lack of preparation Eight weeks after the UAE withdrawal, the US and Israel launched a war on Iran, killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
    — Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of killing

Browse Nearby Words

mutilates
mutilating
mutilation
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Cite this Entry

“Mutilating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mutilating. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.

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