enabled; enabling
i-ˈnā-b(ə-)liŋ 
1
a
: to provide with the means or opportunity
training that enables people to earn a living
b
: to make possible, practical, or easy
a deal that would enable passage of a new law
c
: to cause to operate
software that enables the keyboard
2
: to give legal power, capacity, or sanction to
a law enabling admission of a state
Did you know?
Enabling: The Behavior of an Enabler
Enable has a number of senses, most of which are some variant on allowing someone (or something, such as enabling cookies on a computer) to do something. In the past several decades, enable has also started to take on a new associated sense in the field of addiction studies, where enabling is viewed as giving misguided support to a person with some substance-abuse issue. A person who facilitates the self-destructive behavior of another is referred to as an enabler.
Examples of enable in a Sentence
The machine enables us to create copies without losing quality.
The system enables students to access class materials online.
These choices are part of what enabled the company to be successful.
a filing system that enables easy access to information
Be sure to enable your computer's firewall.
Recent Examples on the Web
The transition, even under the best of circumstances, was going to be complicated, given the relatively short eight-month timeline to switch over a million retail fiber customers and 4 million enabled fiber locations in 11 states.
—
Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 26 Feb. 2026
This flexibility is intended to enable more advanced maneuvering and mission profiles than traditional hypersonic boost-glide and cruise missile systems.
—Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 25 Feb. 2026
Kayla Dwyer The Senate just approved a controversial billthat would enable a segment of the Indiana National Guard to have local policing powers when deployed on the ground at the call of the governor, including the power to make arrests, as well as searches and seizures.
—Kaitlin Lange, IndyStar, 25 Feb. 2026
The steering, though somewhat isolated due to the car’s grand-touring disposition, feels communicative enough to enable and encourage rather spirited cornering.
—Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for enable
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Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 26 Feb. 2026
This flexibility is intended to enable more advanced maneuvering and mission profiles than traditional hypersonic boost-glide and cruise missile systems.
—Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 25 Feb. 2026
Kayla Dwyer The Senate just approved a controversial billthat would enable a segment of the Indiana National Guard to have local policing powers when deployed on the ground at the call of the governor, including the power to make arrests, as well as searches and seizures.
—Kaitlin Lange, IndyStar, 25 Feb. 2026
The steering, though somewhat isolated due to the car’s grand-touring disposition, feels communicative enough to enable and encourage rather spirited cornering.
—Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for enable
Cite this Entry
“Enable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enable. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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