enable
Americanverb (used with object)
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enables,
present (3rd person singular)
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enabled,
past participle, past
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enabling
present participle
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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.
See Examples For:
"The cyber defence capabilities will enable enterprises and governments to defend themselves against threat actors that are jailbreaking closed models to perform cyberattacks," Mistral's Chief Scientist Guillaume Lample said in the statement.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
"With further optimization of cavity structures and material systems, vacuum-fluctuation coupling may enable more pronounced and widely applicable control of quantum states," said Prof. Zeng.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
Diedrichs said AI models in advertising could enable small brands to have a large number of diverse models, or global brands to advertise in multiple markets.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
That would enable something like the notorious “2 and 20” structure, in which private-fund managers take 2% annual fees plus up to 20% of any gains, to apply in funds available to the general public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Physical tools enable you to act in the world: a saw cuts through wood, and a hammer drives home nails.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
This includes a partnership announced last month with Meta Platforms that enables the social-media company’s Muse agent to check out on behalf of customers of Shopify stores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
That said, he noted that the company’s premium brand enables it to command industry-leading gross margins.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
Another worry was that the proposed laws could affect Australia's "reputation as a jurisdiction that enables innovation," the submission said.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
The real reason the scheme works, however, is that people are overpaying him for Bitcoin, which enables him to buy more Bitcoin and sell more securities at favorable terms.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
The card allows noncitizens the opportunity to work in the United States, and it also enables them to acquire a Social Security number.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
It enabled him to purchase the Old Vicarage at Grantchester near Cambridge, formerly the home of war poet, Rupert Brooke, as well as a penthouse in London.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
On the other hand, having created and enforced the rules that enabled those behaviors, they can’t condemn them either.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
Inside those stars, extreme heat and pressure enabled nuclear fusion and other reactions that created heavier elements such as carbon and oxygen.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
Many fire survivors have joined lawsuits against the city of Los Angeles and other entities over missteps that enabled or worsened the fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Between them they had pieced together the fate of his charred note, and the course of confusion which had enabled three disparate animals to disappear without trace, and with perfect timing and perception.
From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford
“These are powerful tools that are already enabling stunning discoveries and in the coming years your generation stands to push the boundaries of human knowledge,” said UChicago President Paul Alivisatos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
They are then raised and emptied of water, enabling inspections, maintenance and repair.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Its latest model has been tested at carmaker Audi as part of a project aimed at enabling robots to perform production-line tasks.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
Over the last decade, her group has helped repurpose 13,000 acres of farmland in the Central Valley, enabling water to spread out, sink into the soil and replenish depleted groundwater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
He had distilled it at the age of sixteen, enabling him to work miracles, among them the highest aspiration of the ancient art: the transmutation of lead into gold.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
