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maim

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maim

  [meym]
Use maim in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to deprive of the use of some part of the body by wounding or the like; cripple: The explosion maimed him for life.
2. to impair; make essentially defective: The essay was maimed by deletion of important paragraphs.
–noun Obsolete.
3. a physical injury, esp. a loss of a limb.
4. an injury or defect; blemish; lack.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME mayme, var. of mahayme mayhem

Related forms:
maimedness, noun
maimer, noun

Synonyms:
1. Maim, lacerate, mangle, mutilate indicate the infliction of painful and severe injuries on the body. To maim is to injure by giving a disabling wound, or by depriving a person of one or more members or their use: maimed in an accident. To lacerate is to inflict severe cuts and tears on the flesh or skin: to lacerate an arm. To mangle is to chop undiscriminatingly or to crush or rend by blows or pressure, as if by machinery: bodies mangled in a train wreck. To mutilate is to injure the completeness or beauty of a body, esp. by cutting off an important member: to mutilate a statue, a tree, a person. 2. injure, disable, deface, mar.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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maim   (mām)   
tr.v.   maimed, maim·ing, maims

  1. To injure, disable, or disfigure, usually by depriving of the use of a limb or other part of the body. See Synonyms at batter1.

  2. To make imperfect or defective; impair.


[Middle English maimen, from Old French mahaignier; see mayhem.]
maim'er 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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Word Origin & History

maim 
1297, from O.Fr. mahaignier, possibly from V.L. *mahanare (cf. Prov. mayanhar, It. magagnare), of unknown origin. Possibly from P.Gmc. *mait- (cf. O.N. meiða "to hurt," related to mad), or from PIE *mai- "to cut."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: maim
Pronunciation: 'mAm
Function: transitive verb
: to mutilate, disfigure, or wound seriously —compare MAYHEM
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: maim
Pronunciation: 'mAm
Function: transitive verb
1 : to commit the felony of mayhem upon
2 : to wound seriously : MUTILATE, DISABLE
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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