sabotage

[ sab-uh-tahzh, sab-uh-tahzh ]

noun

1. any underhand interference with production, work, etc., in a plant, factory, etc., as by enemy agents during wartime or by employees during a trade dispute.
2. any undermining of a cause.

verb (used with object)

, sab·o·taged, sab·o·tag·ing.

1. to injure or attack by sabotage.

   Synonyms: cripple, vandalize, disable

sabotage

/ ˈsæbəˌtɑːʒ /

noun

1. the deliberate destruction, disruption, or damage of equipment, a public service, etc, as by enemy agents, dissatisfied employees, etc
2. any similar action or behaviour

verb

1. tr to destroy, damage, or disrupt, esp by secret means

Other Words From

• un·sabo·taged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sabotage¹

First recorded in 1865–70; from French, from sabot(er) “to botch,” originally, “to harry, shake up, strike” (verb derivative of sabot sabot ) + -age -age

Word History and Origins

Origin of sabotage¹

C20: from French, from saboter to spoil through clumsiness (literally: to clatter in sabots)

Example Sentences

In a briefing on Tuesday, the prime minister said he may introduce measures like price controls to prevent economic sabotage.

From Fortune

Brittleness requires AI to learn a certain level of flexibility, but sabotage—or “adversarial attacks”—is becoming an increasingly recognized problem.

From Singularity Hub 

However, there is no public information about this terrorist group or about the sabotage attributed to it.

From Washington Blade

Machel died in a 1986 plane crash in nearby South Africa, an incident widely believed to have been an act of sabotage by the country’s apartheid government.

From Ozy

This not only was seen as election sabotage, but it pointlessly jeopardized paychecks, Medicare payments, and deliveries of needed pharmaceuticals to patients.

From Fortune

Extra security was also set up along the lines to monitor other signs of potential sabotage.

From The Daily Beast

With Lindsay Lohan, we were watching the horror show of self-sabotage, and grappled with our role in feeding into it.

From The Daily Beast

Grassroots organizing accompanied an agenda of legislative sabotage led by the Republican congressional hierarchy.

From The Daily Beast

But was it necessary to try to sabotage her career and her book and spend hours of our own lives trying to make her life hell?

From The Daily Beast

The Americans and the Israelis have worked to sabotage German gear that Iran has tried to purchase on the black market.

From The Daily Beast

This was a simple matter when the strikers were guilty of trespass, arson, or sabotage.

From Project Gutenberg

Sabotage places human life—and especially the life of the only useful class—higher than all else in the universe.

From Project Gutenberg

And you can search that book until you are black in the face and you won't find a word in there about sabotage.

From Project Gutenberg

But whether you believe sabotage to be good, bad, or indifferent, really is not vital in this case except as a circumstance.

From Project Gutenberg

Sabotage is as broad and changing as industry, as flexible as the imagination and passions of humanity.'

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• destruction
• disruption
• subversion
• treachery
• treason
• vandalism