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
Calvin, known throughout Altadena as “Coach Z,” has refused to allow the insurmountable loss to immobilize him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
“Once they’ve captured their prey, they immobilize it with a very sticky mucus or slime.”
From National Geographic ● Aug. 4, 2023
The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee were immobilize and mobilize.
From New York Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
“Enough snow. Don’t want to immobilize the city, do we?”
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
"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
Rb1 Nd6, and the beautifully placed Black knight immobilizes the proud White center and keeps the White rook from invading.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 26, 2021
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
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
It’s also known that Waymo pays humans to physically deal with vehicles immobilized by — for example — a passenger’s failure to fully close a car door when exiting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2026
The document also addresses key European interests, including the need to use immobilized Russian central bank assets held in Europe to support Ukraine and its recovery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 23, 2025
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
While run-of-the-mill pessimists might become immobilized and despondent by focusing on negative outcomes, defensive pessimists take action to avoid them.
From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2024
Who spends half her life in bed immobilized with terrible pain, shutting out the world.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Trainers were immobilizing the leg before the cart even reached Lathan.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 1, 2023
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
“A subset of Hyundai vehicles on the road in the U.S. today – primarily “base trim” or entry-level models – are not equipped with push-button ignitions and immobilizing anti-theft devices.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 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
I've seen her bring back people suffering from immobilizing sadness since.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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.
