immobilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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immobilizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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immobilized,
past participle, past
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immobilizing
present participle
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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immobilizesimple
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immobilizessimple
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have immobilizedperfect
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has immobilizedperfect
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am immobilizingprogressive
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are immobilizingprogressive
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is immobilizingprogressive
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have been immobilizingperfect progressive
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has been immobilizingperfect progressive
Past
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immobilizedsimple
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had immobilizedperfect
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was immobilizingprogressive
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were immobilizingprogressive
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had been immobilizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of immobilize
1870–75; immobile + -ize; see 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.
See Examples For:
A single freeze-up can knock out an entire weapons platform or immobilize a convoy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025
“Once they’ve captured their prey, they immobilize it with a very sticky mucus or slime.”
From National Geographic ● Aug. 4, 2023
Wildlife conflict specialists responded to the scene and contacted a local veterinarian about possible treatment, but the lion died before the team could immobilize it for capture, Daly said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2023
The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee were immobilize and mobilize.
From New York Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
“At least not yet. We also had to immobilize his jaw so that the fracture would heal, so it’s wired shut.”
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
"Whether it immobilizes us, or instead we denounce and shout to the world what is happening."
From Barron's ● Apr. 20, 2026
“It immobilizes people; they’re stuck, because they just don’t know.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
Fukuyama and a virus that immobilizes people into teeth-chattering zombies — are as haunting as the villainous Shadow King, played by Audrey Plaza, who at times also appears as a nightmarishly pale, obese figure.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2018
“Fish that encounter electricity go through a process called galvanotaxis that immobilizes the muscles, physically stopping the fish from moving through the barrier. The process can be lethal,” says Mark Cornish, a supervisory Corps biologist.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 20, 2017
The amebocytes of starfish were recently found to contain a material that immobilizes the macrophages of mammals, resembling a product of immune lymphocytes in higher forms.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Without her devotion and interpretive intuition, the voice inside the immobilized body would have gone unheard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
The injuries observed suggest that orcas may have developed a refined technique to trigger this immobilized state while reducing the risk of being bitten.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2025
When Campos asked why the agent had immobilized his vehicle, the agent replied, “I’m not going to argue with you, bro. You did what you did, I did what I did.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2025
I don't have the privilege of being immobilized, so since Wednesday morning I've been working on what I can do to help the situation in any way that I possibly can.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2024
He stroked Gwenforte’s head, and she stared up at him, apparently hypnotized, immobilized by his words and his soothing hand—save for a faint tremor in her legs.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Zelda Williams took to Twitter to share that the Oscar winner, who died at 63 in 2014, likely would have supported the SAG-AFTRA strike that’s currently immobilizing Hollywood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
The cars are not equipped with push-button ignitions and immobilizing anti-theft devices.
From Washington Times ● May 19, 2023
Layers of sphagnum moss and peat help pickle bodies by saturating the tissue in a cold, immobilizing environment that is highly acidic and almost devoid of oxygen.
From New York Times ● Jan. 30, 2023
His knee was in an immobilizing brace when he came back to the Crimson Tide bench.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 18, 2022
An emotional heaviness pinned his limbs down into the hard mattress, immobilizing him.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
