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.
See Examples For:
Chevron started working in Kazakhstan in 1993 and is trying to secure a contract extension with the country’s government that would enable it to keep operating the project after 2033.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
“Customers are choosing SAP to enable accurate and compliant AI outcomes grounded in their most critical business processes and data,” CEO Christian Klein said in a statement.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Only some sections of Stadium Straight would be narrowed to enable the inclusion of additional outdoor sporting and recreational facilities, such as 5-a-side football and 3v3 basketball.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The gap between the two bouts could enable Fury to attend his rival's event.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
I thought Rufus and Kevin had probably told him enough to enable him to understand, whether he believed or not.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
House cats have vertical-slit pupils, an adaptation that enables superior nocturnal vision.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Tokenization allows investors to own fractions of an asset, rather than the whole thing, and blockchain hosting — theoretically, at least — enables payment, settlement, change of ownership and custody on a digital ledger.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
“So that information is in the marketplace, and that’s what actually enables price discovery, so stock prices roughly reflect what’s going on at a company, most of the time.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
This mechanism is what enables combinatorial biosynthesis and allows bacteria to naturally generate multiple drug variants.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
It tells you what to measure and enables you to predict, but it provides no answer to the question ‘Why?’
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Hugh Lennox Bond said the advantages of habeas are that it is swift and cheap, and I think that is what enabled a lot of the legal success in the District of Minnesota.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
That gave him clear air and enabled the Dutchman to consolidate his race position in third place behind the McLarens, laying the foundations for Red Bull's late strategy call.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
That has enabled managers to make fast supply-chain adjustments and well-informed pricing decisions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
“It enabled us to expand the scope in ways that wouldn’t have been feasible before,” Sarandos said.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Wealth generated through trade enabled the natives to attract scholar-teachers from abroad to educate their sons.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
The aircraft hit the sand and rolled for about 100 feet before Mike made a hard turn, forcing the aircraft to brake and enabling the pair to emerge unscathed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
This could be the difference between getting around the house or needing help at home or enabling people to go out and see friends and family.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
As air-defense networks get more dense and sophisticated, protecting the drones has become a greater obstacle than enabling them to travel far.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
SpaceX is dedicated to advancing space technology with the goal of enabling human life on other planets.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
She felt as if a mist had been lifted from her eyes, enabling her to look upon and comprehend the significance of life, that monster made up of beauty and brutality.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
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.
