Nearby Words

disable

[dis-ey-buhl] Origin

dis·a·ble

[dis-ey-buhl]
verb (used with object), -bled, -bling.
1.
to make unable or unfit; weaken or destroy the capability of; cripple; incapacitate: He was disabled by blindness.
2.
to make legally incapable; disqualify.

Origin:
1475–85; dis-1 + able

dis·a·ble·ment, noun
dis·a·bler, noun


1. enfeeble, paralyze. See cripple.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Disable is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.
chat, to converse
Collins
World English Dictionary
disable (dɪsˈeɪbəl)
 
vb
1.  to make ineffective, unfit, or incapable, as by crippling
2.  to make or pronounce legally incapable
3.  to switch off (an electronic device)
 
dis'ablement
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

disable
mid-15c., from dis- "do the opposite of" (see dis-) + pp. of ablen (v.) "to make fit." Related: Disabled.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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