enable
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make able; give power, means, competence, or ability to: Students with vision impairments are enabled in the classroom with magnifiers and screen reader software.
This document will enable him to pass through the enemy lines unmolested.
Students with vision impairments are enabled in the classroom with magnifiers and screen reader software.
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to make possible or easy.
Aeronautics enables us to overcome great distances.
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to encourage or support (the bad or dysfunctional behavior) of (someone): You enable drug users when you shield them from the consequences of their actions.
The university enabled years of abuse by ignoring complaints against the coach.
You enable drug users when you shield them from the consequences of their actions.
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Digital Technology.
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to make (a device, system, or feature) active or functional; turn on.
The automatic snapshot feature is enabled by default.
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to equip for an extended, peripheral, or premium use.
to enable your laptop for wireless internet access.
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verb
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to provide (someone) with adequate power, means, opportunity, or authority (to do something)
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to make possible
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to put (a digital electronic circuit element) into an operative condition by supplying a suitable input pulse
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enablesimple
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enablessimple
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have enabledperfect
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has enabledperfect
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am enablingprogressive
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are enablingprogressive
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is enablingprogressive
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have been enablingperfect progressive
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has been enablingperfect progressive
Past
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enabledsimple
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had enabledperfect
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was enablingprogressive
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were enablingprogressive
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had been enablingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enable
First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English; see en- 1, able
Explanation
When you make something possible, you enable it. Your good grades might enable you to get into your first-choice college. And a great teacher enabled you to get such good grades. Enable has taken on the meaning of allowing or even helping someone continue to do something they really shouldn't. If your mother writes note after note to get you out of school for no good reason, she is enabling your habit of playing hooky. While you might think she's being cool, a therapist might call her an enabler and give her part of the blame.
Vocabulary lists containing enable
Vocabulary from "Community is the 'killer app' missing from virtual reality" by Dmitri Williams
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Vocabulary from the Second Presidential Debate: October 9, 2016
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Unit 1: Ecological Systems
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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.
"Achieving these capabilities in a working model could enable a new generation of efficient infrared emitters, thermal-energy devices, sensors, and photonic memory technologies."
From Science Daily • Jul. 7, 2026
She said the commission believed this approach "will enable support for high-spending customers in financial difficulties, while reducing friction for customers who are not".
From BBC • Jul. 7, 2026
Instead, they encourage division, enable wrongdoing and allow bad actors to get off scot-free.
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2026
“This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.”
From MarketWatch • Jul. 2, 2026
New observations in the next few years, particularly by gravitational wave detectors like LIGO, should enable us to discover the origin of the gamma ray bursts.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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.
