enable

American  

[en-ey-buhl] / ɛnˈeɪ bəl /

verb (used with object)

enabled, enabling

1. 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.

   Synonyms:

   permit, allow, qualify, empower

2. to make possible or easy.

   Aeronautics enables us to overcome great distances.

3. 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.

4. Digital Technology.

   1. to make (a device, system, or feature) active or functional; turn on.

      The automatic snapshot feature is enabled by default.

   2. to equip for an extended, peripheral, or premium use.

      to enable your laptop for wireless internet access.

---

enable British  

/ ɪnˈeɪbəl /

verb

1. to provide (someone) with adequate power, means, opportunity, or authority (to do something)

2. to make possible

3. to put (a digital electronic circuit element) into an operative condition by supplying a suitable input pulse

---

Other Word Forms

• enablement noun
• enabler noun
• preenable verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of enable

First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English; en- ¹, able

Example Sentences

Competition enables greater choice and better outcomes for markets.

From The Wall Street Journal

Hence, an episode interwoven with his anti-war, anti-nuke and anti-corporate profiteering planks also enabled him to criticize broadcast media’s lack of inclusion.

From Salon

The strain's resistance profile suggests that bacteria adapted to cold environments could serve as reservoirs of resistance genes, which are segments of DNA that enable survival when exposed to antibiotics.

From Science Daily

“Residents are rightfully fed up. We cannot allow inoperable, abandoned vehicles to become a permanent fixture of our streetscape. Nor can we enable ‘vanlords’ to exploit the homeless,” she said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times

Ship-to-ship transfers, in which one ship empties—or partially empties—its crude oil into the tanks of another, often in the middle of the ocean, enable crews to conceal the origin of the cargo.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• empower
• facilitate
• implement
• permit
• set up