immobilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make immobile or immovable; fix in place.
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to prevent the use, activity, or movement of.
The hurricane immobilized the airlines.
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to deprive of the capacity for mobilization.
The troops were immobilized by the enemy.
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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.
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to render (an opponent's strategy) ineffective; stymie.
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Finance.
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to establish a monetary reserve by withdrawing (specie) from circulation.
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to create fixed capital in place of (circulating capital).
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verb
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to make or become immobile
to immobilize a car
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finance
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to remove (specie) from circulation and hold it as a reserve
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to convert (circulating capital) into fixed capital
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Other Word Forms
- immobilization noun
- immobilizer noun
Etymology
Origin of immobilize
1870–75; immobile + -ize; mobilize and compare French immobiliser
Explanation
To immobilize something is to make it impossible for it to move. You can immobilize a battery-operated toy by taking the battery out. You could immobilize your brother's car by letting the air out of his tires, or immobilize your little sister by making her so scared of an imaginary monster in the bathroom that she can't move a muscle. In both examples, someone or something is prevented from moving. To immobilize is to make immobile, or motionless, from the Latin root immobilis, which means both "immovable," and also "hard-hearted."
Vocabulary lists containing immobilize
Stargirl
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List 4
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The Secret Life of Bees
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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.
A single freeze-up can knock out an entire weapons platform or immobilize a convoy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025
Calvin, known throughout Altadena as “Coach Z,” has refused to allow the insurmountable loss to immobilize him.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2025
Others suggested they helped predators immobilize larger prey, assisted the brooding of eggs or were a display to mates and rivals.
From New York Times • Jan. 25, 2024
“Once they’ve captured their prey, they immobilize it with a very sticky mucus or slime.”
From National Geographic • Aug. 4, 2023
I could immobilize my arms and legs, but inside me it was rush hour in downtown Phoenix.
From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli
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.
