debilitate
[dih-bil-i-teyt]
- to make weak or feeble; enfeeble: The siege of pneumonia debilitated her completely.
Show More
Origin of debilitate
1525–35; < Latin dēbilitātus (past participle of dēbilitāre), equivalent to dēbilit-, stem of dēbilis weak + -ātus -ate1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
eviscerateattenuatedisablecrippleexhaustharmmardevitalizeinjureprostrateextenuaterelaxhurtenfeeblespoilenervatesapbluntundermineweakenExamples from the Web for debilitate
Contemporary Examples
Infernal, it can cause fires and explosions; toxic, it can debilitate, poison, and kill.
Historical Examples
I will not debilitate the cook; I will not exhaust the fowl-yard.
No Defense, CompleteGilbert Parker
He was one of those whom books cannot debilitate, nor a life of study incapacitate for the study of life.
On the SublimeLonginus
Taking hot food or drink, habitually, tends to debilitate all the organs thus needlessly excited.
A Treatise on Domestic EconomyCatherine Esther Beecher
Many suppose that a warm bath exposes a person more readily to take cold; and that it tends to debilitate the system.
A Treatise on Domestic EconomyCatherine Esther Beecher
This is to prevent the free escape of water, which might debilitate the starch-making cells.
Trees Worth KnowingJulia Ellen Rogers
debilitate
- (tr) to make feeble; weaken
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Latin dēbilitāre, from dēbilis weak
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for debilitate
v.
1530s, from Latin debilitatus, past participle of debilitare "to weaken," from debilis "weak" (see debility). Related: Debilitated; debilitating.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper