1
as in to paralyze
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
the malfunctioning of a single component can incapacitate the engine
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2
as in to cripple
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the stroke left her completely incapacitated
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of incapacitate
While the Constitution’s 25th Amendment outlines a procedure to deal with a president who is incapacitated, there is no specific protocol for dealing with a member of Congress who is unable to perform his or her duties.
—
Emily Brooks, The Hill, 27 Dec. 2024
The effort briefly stalled tribal lending as the companies disabled lenders’ access to customers’ bank accounts, effectively incapacitating their operations.
—Joel Jacobs, ProPublica, 23 Dec. 2024
The 15,000 losses the Ukrainian president noted are those who are dead or incapacitated and cannot return to war.
—Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025
Washington no longer has a pressing need to maintain its military presence or the crushing sanctions that were initially designed to incapacitate the Assad regime.
—Steven Simon, Foreign Affairs, 3 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for incapacitate 
Emily Brooks, The Hill, 27 Dec. 2024
The effort briefly stalled tribal lending as the companies disabled lenders’ access to customers’ bank accounts, effectively incapacitating their operations.
—Joel Jacobs, ProPublica, 23 Dec. 2024
The 15,000 losses the Ukrainian president noted are those who are dead or incapacitated and cannot return to war.
—Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025
Washington no longer has a pressing need to maintain its military presence or the crushing sanctions that were initially designed to incapacitate the Assad regime.
—Steven Simon, Foreign Affairs, 3 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for incapacitate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incapacitate
Verb
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Its venom, potent enough to kill an elephant, is a cocktail of neurotoxins that can paralyze muscles and shut down vital systems in a matter of hours.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
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Travel was paralyzed along the Interstate 10 corridor with portions already receiving widespread snowfall totals of 3 to 6 inches.—
Karina Tsui,
CNN,
21 Jan. 2025
Verb
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About six weeks ago, hackers crippled the computer systems of the TV and mobile phone provider Dish Network.—
Shira Ovide,
Washington Post,
4 Apr. 2023
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Oakland Mills Coach: Chris Brewington Last season: Class 2A state champion Outlook: Losing the talent Oakland Mills did from last year’s outdoor season would cripple most programs, but the Scorpions have reloaded.—
Anthony Maluso,
Baltimore Sun,
22 Mar. 2023
Verb
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As Coursera's Chief Content Officer Marni Baker-Stein emphasizes, this profound gender gap in AI and data science, where women represent just 22% of professionals, undermines both social equity and the effectiveness of AI technology development.—
Bernard Marr,
Forbes,
24 Jan. 2025
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It is also undermined by experience since its announcement.—
Liz Tracey,
JSTOR Daily,
24 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Detectives arrested a suspect associated with a stabbing that killed a woman and left a man seriously injured in west Roseville on Saturday, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.—
Emma Hall,
Sacramento Bee,
26 Jan. 2025
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In 2009, the Saints offered their players cash incentives to injure certain players.—
Jackson Thompson,
Fox News,
25 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Thousands of children have been orphaned, maimed and traumatized.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN,
18 Oct. 2024
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Pointing out the obvious, instead of killing and maiming one another, the surviving German males were back to producing in various ways.—
John Tamny,
Forbes,
18 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The 12-year-old boy was wounded and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the Hartford Courant reported.—
Joseph Wilkinson,
New York Daily News,
23 Jan. 2025
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Residents reported constant gunfire and explosions and Palestinian health services reported at least four wounded, after 10 people were killed a day earlier.—
Reuters,
NBC News,
23 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Consider Opting Out Of Model Improvement Consider disabling Improve The Model For Everyone in settings to prevent your conversations from being used for AI training.—
Alex Vakulov,
Forbes,
22 Jan. 2025
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Apple Intelligence began rolling out in October with iOS 18.1, giving users access to features such as Writing Tools, improved Siri, and the troubled notification summaries, which were later disabled to fix problems with inaccurate news alerts.—
Jibin Joseph,
PCMAG,
22 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Moments later, she was killed….This child lost his mother and father in mere seconds.—
Zeena Saifi,
CNN,
24 Jan. 2025
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Teen shooter kills student, then himself at Nashville high school In: South Carolina Lucia Suarez Sang Lucia Suarez Sang is an associate managing editor at CBSNews.com.—
Lucia Suarez Sang,
CBS News,
24 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near incapacitate
Cite this Entry
“Incapacitate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incapacitate. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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