cripple
Americannoun
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cripples
plural
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Offensive. a term used to refer to a person who is partially or totally unable to use one or more limbs.
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an animal that is similarly disabled; a lame animal.
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Offensive. a person who is disabled or impaired in any way.
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anything that is impaired or flawed.
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a wounded animal, especially one shot by a hunter.
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Carpentry. any structural member shorter than usual, as a stud beneath a windowsill.
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Delaware Valley. a swampy, densely overgrown tract of land.
verb (used with object)
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cripples,
present (3rd person singular)
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crippled,
past participle, past
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crippling
present participle
adjective
noun
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offensive a person who is lame
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offensive a person who is or seems disabled or deficient in some way
a mental cripple
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dialect a dense thicket, usually in marshy land
verb
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. See also retarded ( def. ).
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cripplesimple
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cripplessimple
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have crippledperfect
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has crippledperfect
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am cripplingprogressive
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are cripplingprogressive
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is cripplingprogressive
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have been cripplingperfect progressive
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has been cripplingperfect progressive
Past
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crippledsimple
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had crippledperfect
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was cripplingprogressive
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were cripplingprogressive
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had been cripplingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cripple
First recorded before 950; Middle English cripel, Old English crypel; akin to creep
Explanation
To cripple is to leave someone unable to walk. Terrible car accidents, for example, can sometimes cripple their victims. Use the verb cripple to describe what is done to a person whose legs are so badly injured that they can't be used. You can also use the word in a figurative way, as when a parent's criticism and high expectations cripple a child's self esteem. In other words, they take away his strength and make him feel useless and unsuccessful. In the thirteenth century, cripple meant "to move slowly," from the Old English root crypel, "to bend."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A business fears proposals to charge Cardiff employers thousands of pounds for staff parking could "cripple" employers in the city.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
These cases, officials warned, “are poised to cripple the entirety of California’s civil justice system.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
A steep drop in the first few years of retirement, while you’re pulling money out to live on, can permanently cripple a portfolio even after the market recovers.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
Abrupt, unwelcome occurrences scar our autonomy and cripple our illusion of independence; the question of what went wrong falls on our shoulders, another loop to languish inside.
From Salon ● May 30, 2026
Bran was back at Winterfell, a cripple, yet safe.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
She added that VAT on businesses like hers "cripples creativity".
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
“We will engage in good-faith dialogue, but we will not accept any outcome that cripples UC’s core mission or undermines taxpayer investments.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2025
This legacy often cripples their ability to transition into adulthood as a functioning member of society.
From Slate ● Oct. 12, 2023
So even in the most extreme drought, when we look back 100 years, there's nothing that cripples hydro in a serious way.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2022
Greybeards and green boys, fighting men in their prime, wounded men and cripples, a good score of spearwives, even three Homfoot men.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
“We were promised Black jobs, Black dollars and an economic boost to Crenshaw, but businesses have been crippled one by one,” Shorter said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Disruptions can come out of the blue: a ransomware attack crippled one Treasury dealer in 2023.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The Scots, crippled by a deadly combo of profligacy and self destruction, needed snookers.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
In downtown L.A., vandalism, shuttered storefronts and post-COVID abandonment have crippled what was a vibrant, revenue-generating economy that benefited the whole city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
Esvans Harth rem ir Estraven was an old man, past seventy, crippled by an arthritic disease of the hips.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Her crippling impostor syndrome was a feature, not a bug — we were stuck there with her for at least two seasons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
"It's crippling them - I think it will force them out," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Under the text, Washington commits to immediately waive oil sanctions crippling Iran's economy.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
They hired general managers just to fire them a couple of years later, burned through coaches and signed washed-up star players to crippling contracts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Possibly my crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather than pathetic, casting me as a damsel in distress.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
