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View synonyms for disable

disable

[ dis-ey-buhl ]

verb (used with object)

, dis·a·bled, dis·a·bling.
  1. to make unable or unfit; weaken or destroy the capability of; incapacitate:

    The detective successfully disabled the bomb.

    Synonyms: paralyze, enfeeble

  2. to impair or injure (a person or animal) physically or mentally:

    The accident disabled him for life.

  3. to make legally incapable; disqualify:

    Minors are legally disabled from entering into a contract.

  4. Digital Technology. to make (a device, system, or feature) unable to function; turn off:

    Some of the car’s advanced safety features can be disabled.



disable

/ dɪsˈeɪbəl /

verb

  1. to make ineffective, unfit, or incapable, as by crippling
  2. to make or pronounce legally incapable
  3. to switch off (an electronic device)


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Derived Forms

  • disˈablement, noun

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Other Words From

  • dis·able·ment noun
  • dis·abler noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of disable1

First recorded in 1475–85; dis- 1 + able

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Example Sentences

When the researchers experimentally disabled a host’s FT gene, dodders no longer flowered.

Power down your laptop, Socrates urges, disable Slack, and talk.

From Fortune

For starters, disabling NANOS2 does not definitively prevent the surrogate bull from producing some of its own sperm.

The bacteria then use Cas9 to cut the DNA apart, which disables the virus.

Even though disabling the Google search box might sound like a bizarre idea, I recommend considering this in particular cases.

This would seem to refute the new report that the captain alone would have been able to disable all the systems.

Her first move was to disable the “retweet cartels,” a setup that automatically retweets from preprogrammed users or hashtags.

In Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and Mali, we have to keep working with partners to disrupt and disable these networks.

Once you enslave a computer to do what you want, you disable it for real love.

It's true that if Republicans continue to disable themselves, Democrats have more freedom to indulge their progressive instincts.

No doubt the legion had suffered a defeat; but not such as to disable their continuance of the contest.

The main thing is to disable one's antagonist as quickly as possible, and Festing knew that Wilkinson would not be scrupulous.

But how do you disable a smooth-surfaced turtle-backed machine?

To disable the pilot of the opposing aeroplane will be the first object.

This extra fatigue may possibly disable his horse, so that the animal cannot proceed further.

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