cripple

[ krip-uhl ]

noun

1. 1. Offensive. a term used to refer to a person who is partially or totally unable to use one or more limbs.
   2. an animal that is similarly disabled; a lame animal.
   3. Offensive. a person who is disabled or impaired in any way.
2. anything that is impaired or flawed.
3. a wounded animal, especially one shot by a hunter.
4. Carpentry. any structural member shorter than usual, as a stud beneath a windowsill.
5. Delaware Valley. a swampy, densely overgrown tract of land.

verb (used with object)

, crip·pled, crip·pling.

1. to make a cripple of; lame.
2. to disable; impair; weaken:

   Indirect losses from extreme weather events have crippled the economy.

   The proposed hike in visa fees could further cripple the island's tourism industry.

adjective

1. Carpentry. jack ¹( def 29 ).

cripple

/ ˈkrɪpəl /

noun

1. offensive.
   a person who is lame
2. offensive.
   a person who is or seems disabled or deficient in some way

   a mental cripple

3. dialect.
   a dense thicket, usually in marshy land

verb

1. tr to make a cripple of; disable

Sensitive Note

When referring to someone for whom it is difficult or impossible to walk or move without some kind of external aid like crutches or a wheelchair, sensitivity is called for. The noun cripple and the adjective crippled are no longer considered appropriate. Although these terms have been in use since before the year 950, since the mid-1900s they have become increasingly uncommon and are largely regarded as insulting. Since the late 20th century, the terms handicapped and the handicapped, once thought to be acceptable alternatives, have also become, at least in some contexts, offensive. ( Handicapped remains acceptable, however, in certain set phrases like handicapped parking. ) Attempts to replace crippled with the milder euphemistic term physically challenged were sidetracked by a virtual explosion of satirical imitations like economically challenged (poor), ethically challenged (immoral), and vertically challenged (short). Currently acceptable terms are disabled and people with disabilities. These terms are not only less likely to offend, they are more useful. While cripple and crippled traditionally denoted permanent impairments of one or more limbs, disabled is a broader, more comprehensive word that can refer to many different kinds of physical or mental impairments, whether temporary or permanent. cripple and crippled are not usually problematic when referring to an inanimate object or an animal. And cripple is unlikely to be deemed offensive as a verb, especially metaphorically, as in Failing to upgrade the computer system will cripple our business. Like many other usually offensive terms, the word cripple can also be acceptable when used by people with disabilities in self-reference, as an act of reclamation, or for political purposes. retarded ( def ).

Derived Forms

• ˈcrippler, noun

Other Words From

• crip·pler noun
• crip·pling·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of cripple¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English cripel, Old English crypel; akin to creep

Word History and Origins

Origin of cripple¹

Old English crypel; related to crēopan to creep , Old Frisian kreppel a cripple, Middle Low German kröpel

Example Sentences

At one time Myanmar was subjected to harsh sanctions that crippled its economy.

From Washington Post

Second, our sense of the possible has been crippled by two decades of helplessness and resignation under the thumb of the tech giants.

From Time

Our sense of the possible has been crippled by two decades of helplessness and resignation under the thumb of the tech giants.

From Time

During the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s, the Nigerian government famously cut off food supplies from the citizens of Biafra, leaving many Biafrans hungry while significantly crippling its military base.

From Eater

As the immune system tries to fight off the virus, the lungs and those air sacs become inflamed and fill with fluid, crippling their ability to transport oxygen into the blood.

From Nautilus

After she battled polio and learned to walk again, the doctors told her she would be a cripple her entire life.

From The Daily Beast

Sectoral sanctions that could cripple the Russian economy are also long overdue.

From The Daily Beast

On September 16 he was called into court in Manhattan, charged with the alarming crime of punching a cripple.

From The Daily Beast

Bring down the Assads, and you cripple the mullahs in both Iran and Lebanon.

From The Daily Beast

In some cases, the aftermath of disasters can cripple the very infrastructure that would enable recovery.

From The Daily Beast

That would have ended our little Alila's life in a moment, or at least made him a cripple for the rest of his days.

From Project Gutenberg

There was, however, only one waggon and that a cripple, and neither carpenters nor smiths were at the station to repair it.

From Project Gutenberg

The first of these unfortunates was of the parish of Barking, aged sixty-eight, a painter and a cripple.

From Project Gutenberg

For a man only to give a half confidence, is to cripple to that extent the capacity of the one who is responsible.

From Project Gutenberg

And I'm a cripple, and she's beautiful—— Oh, my mind's in a muddle!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• damage
• destroy
• halt
• hamstring
• impair
• ruin
• sideline
• stifle