Cripple definition | Dictionary.com

crip⋅ple

[krip-uh

noun, verb, -pled, -pling, adjective

–noun

Sometimes Offensive.

a.	a person or animal that is partially or totally unable to use one or more limbs; a lame or disabled person or animal.

b.	a person who is disabled or impaired in any way: a mental cripple.

2.	anything that is impaired or flawed.

3.	a wounded animal, esp. one shot by a hunter.

4.	Carpentry. any structural member shorter than usual, as a stud beneath a window sill.

5.	Delaware Valley. a swampy, densely overgrown tract of land.

–verb (used with object)

6.	to make a cripple of; lame.

7.	to disable; impair; weaken.

–adjective

8.	Carpentry. jack ¹ (def. 27).

Origin:
bef. 950; ME cripel, OE crypel; akin to creep

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : Cripple

Spanish:

lisiado, mutilado, inválido,

German:

zum Krüppel machen,

Japanese:

かたわにする

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crip·ple (krĭp'əl) Pronunciation Key
n.

A person or animal that is partially disabled or unable to use a limb or limbs: cannot race a horse that is a cripple.
A damaged or defective object or device.

tr.v. crip·pled, crip·pling, crip·ples

To cause to lose the use of a limb or limbs.
To disable, damage, or impair the functioning of: a strike that crippled the factory.

[Middle English crepel, from Old English crypel.]
crip'pler n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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cripple

O.E. crypel, related to cryppan "to crook, bend," from P.Gmc. *krupilaz, and/or related to O.E. creopan "to creep."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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cripple
noun
1.	someone who is unable to walk normally because of an injury or disability to the legs or back
verb
1.	deprive of strength or efficiency; make useless or worthless; "This measure crippled our efforts"; "Their behavior stultified the boss's hard work"
2.	deprive of the use of a limb, especially a leg; "The accident has crippled her for life"

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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cripple crip·ple (krĭp'əl)
n.
One that is partially disabled or unable to use a limb or limbs. v. crip·pled, crip·pling, crip·ples
To cause to lose the use of a limb or limbs.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Main Entry: ¹crip·ple
Pronunciation: 'krip-&l
Function: noun
sometimes offensive : a lame or partly disabled individual

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Main Entry: ²cripple
Function: adjective
: being a cripple : LAME

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Main Entry: ³cripple
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: crip·pled; crip·pling /-(&)-li[ng]/
: to depriveof the use of a limb and especially a leg <crippled by arthritis>

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Cripple Creek, CO (city, FIPS 18530)
Location: (38.747294, -105.179283)
Population (2000): 1,115 (737 housing units)
Area: 1.127787 sq mi (land), 0.000000 sq mi (water)
Zip code(s): 80813

Cripple Creek, CO (CCD, FIPS 11990912)
Location: (38.740514, -105.148635)
Population (2000): 3,002 (2,154 housing units)
Area: 225.065111 sq mi (land), 1.052255 sq mi (water)
Zip code(s): 80813

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau
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Cripple

Crip"ple\ (kr[i^]p"p'l), n. [OE. cripel, crepel, crupel, AS. crypel (akin to D. kreuple, G. kr["u]ppel, Dan. kr["o]bling, Icel. kryppill), prop., one that can not walk, but must creep, fr. AS. cre['o]pan to creep. See Creep.] One who creeps, halts, or limps; one who has lost, or never had, the use of a limb or limbs; a lame person; hence, one who is partially disabled.

I am a cripple in my limbs; but what decays are in my mind, the reader must determine. --Dryden.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Cripple

Crip"ple\ (kr[i^]p"p'l), a. Lame; halting. [R.] "The cripple, tardy-gaited night." --Shak.

Cripple

Crip"ple\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crippled (-p'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Crippling (-pl?ng).]

1. To deprive of the use of a limb, particularly of a leg or foot; to lame.

He had crippled the joints of the noble child. --Sir W. Scott.

2. To deprive of strength, activity, or capability for service or use; to disable; to deprive of resources; as, to be financially crippled.

More serious embarrassments . . . were crippling the energy of the settlement in the Bay. --Palfrey.

An incumbrance which would permanently cripple the body politic. --Macaulay.

Cripple

Crip"ple\, [Local. U. S.] (a) Swampy or low wet ground, often covered with brush or with thickets; bog.

The flats or cripple land lying between high- and low-water lines, and over which the waters of the stream ordinarily come and go. --Pennsylvania Law Reports. (b) A rocky shallow in a stream; -- a lumberman's term.