immobilize
[ih-moh-buh-lahyz]
- to make immobile or immovable; fix in place.
- to prevent the use, activity, or movement of: The hurricane immobilized the airlines.
- to deprive of the capacity for mobilization: The troops were immobilized by the enemy.
- Medicine/Medical. to prevent, restrict, or reduce normal movement in (the body, a limb, or a joint), as by a splint, cast, or prescribed bed rest.
- to render (an opponent's strategy) ineffective; stymie.
- Finance.
- to establish a monetary reserve by withdrawing (specie) from circulation.
- to create fixed capital in place of (circulating capital).
Show More
Also especially British, im·mo·bi·lise.
Origin of immobilize
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for immobilization
restriction, jam, obstruction, restraint, stoppage, binding, leash, stop, delay, confinement, curb, gridlock, lock, limit, holdExamples from the Web for immobilization
Contemporary Examples of immobilization
There was no immobilization of women in the early Islamic era.
Historical Examples of immobilization
Immobilization and rest should be maintained for a month or more.
Surgery, with Special Reference to PodiatryMaximilian Stern
Immobilization of the broken parts of the bone is the object sought.
Lameness of the HorseJohn Victor Lacroix
Immobilization—Systemic immobilization is effected by body rest and locally by splinting the bitten area.
In cases of strains of tendons, during the acute stage, immobilization of the affected parts is in order.
Lameness of the HorseJohn Victor Lacroix
In fractures of the shaft of the humerus, then, it is apparent that immobilization is very difficult if at all possible.
Lameness of the HorseJohn Victor Lacroix
immobilize
immobilise
- to make or become immobileto immobilize a car
- finance
- to remove (specie) from circulation and hold it as a reserve
- to convert (circulating capital) into fixed capital
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for immobilization
1846, noun of action from immobilize.
Show More
immobilize
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
immobilize
(ĭ-mō′bə-līz′)- To render immobile.
- To fix the position of a joint or fractured limb, as with a splint or cast.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.