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Handicapped

- 6 dictionary results

hand⋅i⋅capped

[han-dee-kapt]
–adjective
1. physically or mentally disabled.
2. (of a contestant) marked by, being under, or having a handicap: a handicapped player.
–noun
3. (used with a plural verb) handicapped persons collectively (usually prec. by the): increased job opportunities for the handicapped.

Origin:
1910–15; handicap + -ed 3

hand⋅i⋅cap

[han-dee-kap] noun, verb, -capped, -cap⋅ping.
–noun
1. a race or other contest in which certain disadvantages or advantages of weight, distance, time, etc., are placed upon competitors to equalize their chances of winning.
2. the disadvantage or advantage itself.
3. any disadvantage that makes success more difficult: The main handicap of our business is lack of capital.
4. a physical or mental disability making participation in certain of the usual activities of daily living more difficult.
–verb (used with object)
5. to place at a disadvantage; disable or burden: He was handicapped by his injured ankle.
6. to subject to a disadvantageous handicap, as a competitor of recognized superiority.
7. to assign handicaps to (competitors).
8. Sports.
a. to attempt to predict the winner of (a contest, esp. a horse race), as by comparing past performances of the contestants.
b. to assign odds for or against (any particular contestant) to win a contest or series of contests: He handicapped the Yankees at 2-to-1 to take the series from the Cardinals.

Origin:
1640–50; 1870–75 for def. 8; orig. hand i' cap hand in cap, referring to a drawing before a horse race


5. hinder, impede, cripple, incapacitate.


5. aid, assist, help.
hand·i·cap   (hān'dē-kāp')   
n.  
  1. Sports & Games
    1. A race or contest in which contestants are given advantages or compensations to equalize the chances of winning.
    2. Such an advantage or penalty.
  2. A physical or mental disability. See Synonyms at disadvantage.
  3. A hindrance.
tr.v.   hand·i·capped, hand·i·cap·ping, hand·i·caps
  1. Sports & Games To assign handicaps or a handicap to (a contestant).
  2. To cause to be at a disadvantage; impede.

[From obsolete hand in cap, a game in which forfeits were held in a cap.]
hand·i·capped   (hān'dē-kāpt')   
adj.  Physically or mentally disabled: a pool equipped for handicapped swimmers.
n.   (used with a pl. verb)
People who have a physical or mental disability considered as a group. Often used with the.
Usage Note: Although handicapped is widely used in both law and everyday speech to refer to people having physical or mental disabilities, those described by the word tend to prefer the expressions disabled or people with disabilities. Handicapped, a somewhat euphemistic term, may imply a helplessness that is not suggested by the more forthright disabled. It is also felt that some stigma may attach to the word handicapped because of its origin in the phrase hand in cap, actually derived from a game of chance but sometimes mistakenly believed to involve the image of a beggar. The word handicapped is best reserved to describe a disabled person who is unable to function owing to some property of the environment. Thus people with a physical disability requiring a wheelchair may or may not be handicapped, depending on whether wheelchair ramps are made available to them. See Usage Note at disabled.

Main Entry: han·di·capped
Function: adjective
: having a disability that substantially limits a major life activity (as caring for oneself, working, or having sensory functions)
Language Translation for : Handicapped
Spanish: discapacitado; deficiente,
German: behindert,
Japanese: 身体障害のある

Main Entry: hand·i·capped
Pronunciation: -"kapt
Function: adjective
: having a physical or mental disability that substantially limits activityespecially in relation to employment or education
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