cripple
1 of 3noun
crip·ple ˈkri-pəl 
1
a
sometimes offensive : a lame or partly disabled person or animal
b
: one that is disabled or deficient in a specified manner
a social cripple
2
: something flawed or imperfect
cripple
2 of 3adjective
: being lame, flawed, or imperfect
cripple
3 of 3verb
crippled; crippling ˈkri-p(ə-)liŋ
transitive verb
1
: to deprive of the use of a limb and especially a leg
the accident left him crippled
2
: to deprive of capability for service or of strength, efficiency, or wholeness
an economy crippled by inflation
crippler
ˈkri-p(ə-)lər
noun cripplingly
ˈkri-p(ə-)liŋ-lē
adverb 
Synonyms
Verb
- disable
- incapacitate
- lame
- maim
- mutilate
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun He returned from war a cripple. Verb Higher taxes could cripple small businesses. an economy crippled by inflation
Recent Examples on the Web
New York Times, 30 Mar. 2022 Defense Ministry bureaucracy was also beginning cripple operations. Washington Post, 3 Sep. 2021 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s team put an emphasis on China’s anti-satellite weaponry, which could be used to sever military communications in a conflict and cripple Western economies. Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 1 Dec. 2020 Will that cripple teams to the point where games must be rescheduled? Mike Jones, USA TODAY, 1 July 2020 Some experts argued that Western countries could never enforce such draconian measures—which curtail human rights and cripple economies—but Italy, shocked by the strain on the health care system in the north of the country, followed suit on 9 March. Jon Cohen, Science | AAAS, 18 Mar. 2020 So a future reconciliation bill would not only cripple Obamacare and strip millions of Americans of health coverage obtained via the exchanges, but also kill the Medicaid expansion and throw millions more out of coverage. Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 7 Oct. 2016 Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2022 Builders of big swimming pools and spas for custom homes in far-flung neighborhoods complained the cap could cripple their companies, and that lap pools and diving boards may become a thing of the past. Ken Ritter, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 July 2022 The political ambitions of 52 U.S. Senators seem again poised to cripple long-overdue climate reform, even after the United Nations gathered again to fret over our folly. Grayson Haver Currin, Outside Online, 1 Dec. 2021 With that protein being weak, the virus can infiltrate and cripple our immune system. Shelby Denise Smith, Essence, 30 July 2022 Train stations, dams, utilities, government buildings, air bases, ground bases, all are potential targets whose loss could cripple Ukraine’s military capability, morale, or economy. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 7 July 2022 What may cripple one could actually be a boost for another. Matthew Meehan, Forbes, 24 June 2022 Parents, particularly non-white ones, feel this most acutely, and because parents make up a big share of crucial middle- and upper-management roles, losing them can cripple a company’s future. Bill Schaninger, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2022 The actions could send Russia’s financial market into free fall and cripple the Kremlin’s ability to pay for its new war, which has intensified in recent days. Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2022 See More
Adjective
Another group calling themselves the Belarusian Cyber-Partisans aimed to disrupt regime communications, cripple infrastructure and leak names and addresses of security-service members. New York Times, 30 Mar. 2022 Defense Ministry bureaucracy was also beginning cripple operations. Washington Post, 3 Sep. 2021 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s team put an emphasis on China’s anti-satellite weaponry, which could be used to sever military communications in a conflict and cripple Western economies. Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 1 Dec. 2020 Will that cripple teams to the point where games must be rescheduled? Mike Jones, USA TODAY, 1 July 2020 Some experts argued that Western countries could never enforce such draconian measures—which curtail human rights and cripple economies—but Italy, shocked by the strain on the health care system in the north of the country, followed suit on 9 March. Jon Cohen, Science | AAAS, 18 Mar. 2020 So a future reconciliation bill would not only cripple Obamacare and strip millions of Americans of health coverage obtained via the exchanges, but also kill the Medicaid expansion and throw millions more out of coverage. Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 7 Oct. 2016 Verb
Proposition 64, California’s 2016 landmark cannabis initiative, sold voters on the promise a legal market would cripple the drug’s outlaw trade, with its associated violence and environmental wreckage. Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2022 Builders of big swimming pools and spas for custom homes in far-flung neighborhoods complained the cap could cripple their companies, and that lap pools and diving boards may become a thing of the past. Ken Ritter, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 July 2022 The political ambitions of 52 U.S. Senators seem again poised to cripple long-overdue climate reform, even after the United Nations gathered again to fret over our folly. Grayson Haver Currin, Outside Online, 1 Dec. 2021 With that protein being weak, the virus can infiltrate and cripple our immune system. Shelby Denise Smith, Essence, 30 July 2022 Train stations, dams, utilities, government buildings, air bases, ground bases, all are potential targets whose loss could cripple Ukraine’s military capability, morale, or economy. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 7 July 2022 What may cripple one could actually be a boost for another. Matthew Meehan, Forbes, 24 June 2022 Parents, particularly non-white ones, feel this most acutely, and because parents make up a big share of crucial middle- and upper-management roles, losing them can cripple a company’s future. Bill Schaninger, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2022 The actions could send Russia’s financial market into free fall and cripple the Kremlin’s ability to pay for its new war, which has intensified in recent days. Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English cripel, from Old English crypel; akin to Old English crēopan to creep — more at creep
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Adjective
13th century, in the meaning defined above
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
cripple 1 of 2
noun
crip·ple ˈkri-pəl
: a disabled person who is unable to fully use one or both of his or her arms or legs
Hint: In the past, this word was not considered offensive. In recent years, however, some people have come to find the word hurtful, and you may offend someone by using it.
cripple
2 of 2verb
crippled; crippling
1
: to cause to lose the use of one or more arms or legs
The accident crippled the boy.
2
: to make useless or powerless
… fear can so cripple a person that he cannot think or act. Jean Craighead George, Julie of the Wolves
Jean Craighead George, Julie of the Wolves Medical Definition
cripple 1 of 3
noun
crip·ple ˈkrip-əl
sometimes offensive
: an individual having a physical disability and especially a physically impaired leg or foot
cripple
2 of 3adjective
: being a cripple : lame
cripple
3 of 3transitive verb
crippled; crippling -(ə)-liŋ
: to deprive of the use of a limb and especially a leg
crippled by arthritis
cripple
verb
1
as in to incapacitate
to cause severe or permanent injury to the car crash may have crippled two people for life Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- incapacitate
- injure
- disable
- maim
- hurt
- damage
- wound
- kill
- mutilate
- lame
- paralyze
- scar
- bruise
- hobble
- impair
- hit
- disfigure
- dismember
- harm
- beat
- mangle
- hamstring
- pummel
- lacerate
- maul
- wing
- bludgeon
- kneecap
- batter
- smash
- torture
- lick
- murder
- slap
- smack
- punch
- whack
- gore
- hammer
- lambaste
- torment
- pound
- box
- whip
- bung up
- spank
- swat
- flog
- bash
- thrash
- bang
- belt
- break
- lash
- paste
- thump
- drub
- pelt
- swipe
- lambast
- sock
- buffet
- wallop
- rough (up)
- lace
- thwack
- pommel
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- heal
- cure
- rehabilitate
- remedy
- restore
- fix
- patch
- repair
- renew
- mend
- rejuvenate
- doctor
2
as in to damage
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of the collision so severely crippled the ship that it had to be towed into port Synonyms & Similar Words
- damage
- injure
- mar
- hurt
- weaken
- impair
- compromise
- harm
- spoil
- erode
- disfigure
- destroy
- undermine
- ruin
- break
- flaw
- bloody
- deface
- vitiate
- blemish
- crab
- shatter
- deteriorate
- wound
- devastate
- endamage
- blight
- cross (up)
- wreck
- enfeeble
- enervate
- batter
- dent
- demolish
- tarnish
- maim
- decimate
- disable
- botch
- scour
- wash out
- torture
- mutilate
- smash
- lame
- lacerate
- annihilate
- torment
- mangle
- dint
- queer
- crush
- hamstring
- waste
- ding
- total
- pulverize
- clobber
- scourge
- wipe out
- desolate
- raze
- tear down
- bang up
- bash
- wear (away)
- dash
- gum (up)
- do in
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- rebuild
- help
- repair
- reconstruct
- heal
- fix
- cure
- rehabilitate
- mend
- revamp
- patch
- renovate
- improve
- remedy
- enhance
- rectify
- better
- recondition
- enrich
- revise
- perfect
- ameliorate
- doctor
- refine
- remodel
- edit
- meliorate
3
as in to paralyze
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move a wave of strikes crippled that nation's steel industry Synonyms & Similar Words
- paralyze
- undermine
- weaken
- incapacitate
- disable
- immobilize
- hamstring
- debilitate
- undercut
- sap
- hobble
- attenuate
- lame
- maim
- prostrate
- enfeeble
- mutilate
- enervate
- tire
- knock out
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- invigorate
- strengthen
- energize
- galvanize
- vitalize
- empower
- fortify
- restore
- revive
- revitalize
- rejuvenate
- regenerate
- refresh
- freshen
- refreshen
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of cripple are batter, maim, mangle, and mutilate. While all these words mean "to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage," cripple implies the loss or serious impairment of an arm or leg.
crippled for life in an accident
While in some cases nearly identical to cripple, batter implies a series of blows that bruise deeply, deform, or mutilate.
an old ship battered by fierce storms
The words maim and cripple can be used in similar contexts, but maim implies the loss or injury of a bodily member through violence.
maimed by a shark
Although the words mangle and cripple have much in common, mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds.
a soldier's leg mangled by shrapnel
While the synonyms mutilate and cripple are close in meaning, mutilate implies the cutting off or removal of an essential part of a person or thing thereby impairing its completeness, beauty, or function.
a tree mutilated by inept pruning