disable

[dis-ey-buhl]

verb (used with object)

disabled, disabling 

1. to make unable or unfit; weaken or destroy the capability of; incapacitate.

   The detective successfully disabled the bomb.

   Synonyms: paralyze, enfeeble

2. to impair or injure (a person or animal) physically or mentally.

   The accident disabled him for life.

3. to make legally incapable; disqualify.

   Minors are legally disabled from entering into a contract.

4. Digital Technology.,  to make (a device, system, or feature) unable to function; turn off.

   Some of the car’s advanced safety features can be disabled.

disable

/ dɪsˈeɪbəl /

verb

1. to make ineffective, unfit, or incapable, as by crippling

2. to make or pronounce legally incapable

3. to switch off (an electronic device)

Other Word Forms

• disablement noun
• disabler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of disable¹

First recorded in 1475–85; dis- ¹ + able

Example Sentences

“If we can’t get to them, that person could be severely disabled for a lifetime, or lose their life because a decision was made — without consulting us — that that’s the way it should be.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Renovating a house for a disabled family member?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I’ve disabled most notifications from apps that mean nothing to me.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Those wargames have included shooting down air attacks on the Northern Fleet, Russia’s premier NATO-facing fleet, as well as carrying out drills with electronic warfare equipment that Moscow uses to disable Ukrainian drones.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

With his background in construction, he said he knew that turning off the homes’ circuit breakers would disable their surveillance systems.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• exhaust 
• immobilize 
• knock out 
• ruin 
• shatter 
• undermine 
• wreck