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View synonyms for paralyze

paralyze

[ par-uh-lahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing.
  1. to affect with paralysis.
  2. to bring to a condition of helpless stoppage, inactivity, or inability to act:

    The strike paralyzed communications.



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Other Words From

  • para·lyzant adjective noun
  • para·ly·zation noun
  • para·lyzer noun
  • para·lyzing·ly adverb
  • semi·para·lyzed adjective
  • un·para·lyzed adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of paralyze1

First recorded in 1795–1805; back formation from paralysis, modeled on analyze

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Synonym Study

See shock 1.

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Example Sentences

So will letting Rebecca and Rhonda get hitched paralyze republican governance in the United States in some similar way?

They may have been afraid, and in most cases no doubt were, but their fears did not paralyze them.

His sister killed herself as a teenager, and her death continues to paralyze the Donovan boys in intriguing ways.

“A destructive cyberattack could paralyze the nation,” Panetta said.

For most people who are already in a vulnerable state, that kind of shock is more likely to discourage and paralyze them.

For a moment the horrible possibilities seemed to paralyze every nerve and thought.

Its direct effects are to blunt the faculty of correct thinking, and to paralyze the power of vigorous action.

The retirement of the leaders of the House of Commons served to paralyze the government's resistance.

We know that if we stick a pin into a certain spot we shall paralyze the left forefinger.

At first he had seized every chance of talking to them; but either his own shyness or theirs seemed to paralyze him.

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paralyticparamagnet