cripple
Offensive. a term used to refer to a person who is partially or totally unable to use one or more limbs.
an animal that is similarly disabled; a lame animal.
Offensive. a person who is disabled or impaired in any way.
anything that is impaired or flawed.
a wounded animal, especially one shot by a hunter.
Carpentry. any structural member shorter than usual, as a stud beneath a windowsill.
Delaware Valley. a swampy, densely overgrown tract of land.
Carpentry. jack1 (def. 29).
Origin of cripple
1usage note For cripple
cripple and crippled are not usually problematic when referring to an inanimate object or an animal. And cripple is unlikely to be deemed offensive as a verb, especially metaphorically, as in Failing to upgrade the computer system will cripple our business. Like many other usually offensive terms, the word cripple can also be acceptable when used by people with disabilities in self-reference, as an act of reclamation, or for political purposes. See also retarded.
Other words from cripple
- crip·pler, noun
- crip·pling·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cripple in a sentence
There were many such on board the dear old Crippler, I assure you.
Bleak House | Charles Dickens
British Dictionary definitions for cripple
/ (ˈkrɪpəl) /
offensive a person who is lame
offensive a person who is or seems disabled or deficient in some way: a mental cripple
US dialect a dense thicket, usually in marshy land
(tr) to make a cripple of; disable
Origin of cripple
1Derived forms of cripple
- crippler, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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