disable
Americanverb (used with object)
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disables,
present (3rd person singular)
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disabled,
past participle, past
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disabling
present participle
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to make unable or unfit; weaken or destroy the capability of; incapacitate.
The detective successfully disabled the bomb.
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to impair or injure (a person or animal) physically or mentally.
The accident disabled him for life.
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to make legally incapable; disqualify.
Minors are legally disabled from entering into a contract.
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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.
verb
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to make ineffective, unfit, or incapable, as by crippling
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to make or pronounce legally incapable
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to switch off (an electronic device)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disablesimple
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disablessimple
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have disabledperfect
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has disabledperfect
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am disablingprogressive
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are disablingprogressive
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is disablingprogressive
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have been disablingperfect progressive
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has been disablingperfect progressive
Past
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disabledsimple
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had disabledperfect
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was disablingprogressive
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were disablingprogressive
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had been disablingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disable
Explanation
When an injury disables someone, it leaves the person seriously hurt, probably for the rest of their life. If a car accident disables you, you are permanently limited in some physical way. Illness, as well as injury, can disable people: for example, diabetes disables some sufferers by leaving them blind or weakening their hearts. A completely different way to disable is to make something unusable or unable to work in a certain way. if you disable your smoke detector while you cook nachos in your smoky oven, it won't work until you reconnect the batteries.
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:
It uses thiostrepton, a naturally occurring antibiotic, to disable PRX3.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Meta said it recently updated the glasses to disable the camera if the light was tampered with.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Ars Technica reported last year that cursing would disable Google’s AI overview.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
The lawsuit alleges that Snap, the parent company of disappearing messaging app Snapchat, failed to disable and warn its users about “dangerous” features used by predators.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
“Wylan, how hard would it be to disable one of these gates?”
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
It disables specific growth enzymes in grass weeds, while the same enzymes in crops like soybeans remain unaffected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
A "dark" vessel -- usually a tanker or cargo carrier -- deliberately disables or manipulates transponders in a bid to go undetected by public tracking systems like Kpler's MarineTraffic.
From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 2026
"Lack of support, lack of accessibility, that is what disables you."
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
But if a student disables Opal to use a banned app, school officials are notified on an office dashboard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
Dr. Ashworth secures a mouth prop over me, a hard rubber tool that disables me from closing my mouth.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
And: “If your son died, became disabled, divorced or declared bankruptcy and could no longer afford to pay the mortgage, what would happen to you then?”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
The next day, Centcom posted on social media that it disabled the ship after the crew attempted to violate the blockade several times and ignored repeated warnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Many states pay for disabled and elderly Medicaid beneficiaries to hire aides or family members to help with everyday tasks like cooking and shopping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
"There are lots of people doing great things in providing accessible spaces; perhaps there needs to be more disabled leadership," she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Maybe we would look harder for solutions to caring for the disabled, the abused, the neglected, and the traumatized.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
The effort underscores the challenge of fully disabling the country’s missile program.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
“When people have access to medical care through insurance, they tend to undertake activities that can help longevity, like better preventive care, better management of chronic and disabling conditions,” Cohen said.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
"You've got inequalities in urban infrastructure, housing, structural conditions around things like social networks and care. If you put all of those together and then you throw heat in, that's what's disabling," Kirkcaldy said.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Now, after disabling about 30 of the devices near his home in the Minneapolis area, he told AFP: "I'm not really as scared anymore."
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
In Kearney, Nebraska, citizens were instructed on disabling incendiary bombs with garden hoses.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
