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cripple

 - 6 dictionary results

crip⋅ple

[krip-uhl] noun, verb, -pled, -pling, adjective
–noun
1. 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


crippler, noun
crip⋅pling⋅ly, adverb


7. maim. Cripple, disable mean to injure to a degree that interferes with normal activities. To cripple is to injure in such a way as to deprive of the use of a member, particularly a leg. Disable, a more general word, implies any such illness, injury, or impairment: disabled by an attack of malaria; disabled by a wound.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To cripple
crip·ple   (krĭp'əl)   
n.  
  1. A person or animal that is partially disabled or unable to use a limb or limbs: cannot race a horse that is a cripple.

  2. A damaged or defective object or device.

tr.v.   crip·pled, crip·pling, crip·ples
  1. To cause to lose the use of a limb or limbs.

  2. 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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1crip·ple
Pronunciation: 'krip-&l
Function: noun
sometimes offensive : a lame or partly disabled individual

Main Entry: 2cripple
Function: adjective
: being a cripple : LAME

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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Medical Dictionary

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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