paralyze
Americanverb (used with object)
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to affect with paralysis.
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to bring to a condition of helpless stoppage, inactivity, or inability to act.
The strike paralyzed communications.
Related Words
See shock 1.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of paralyze
First recorded in 1795–1805; back formation from paralysis, modeled on analyze
Explanation
Use the verb paralyze to describe something that makes it impossible to move or function, like a snowstorm that threatens to paralyze a city. Accent the first syllable in paralyze: "PA-ruh-lies." Until 1805, the only way to paralyze someone was physically — the word was used to indicate that a person had lost the ability to move their body, often as a result of an accident of illness. More recently, the definition has widened to include figurative uses like being "paralyzed by fear." It doesn't mean you are literally immobilized — just that you are so scared, it feels that way.
Vocabulary lists containing paralyze
Schooled
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Where the Red Fern Grows
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List 6
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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.
