cripple
verb /ˈkrɪpl/
/ˈkrɪpl/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they cripple | /ˈkrɪpl/ /ˈkrɪpl/ |
| he / she / it cripples | /ˈkrɪplz/ /ˈkrɪplz/ |
| past simple crippled | /ˈkrɪpld/ /ˈkrɪpld/ |
| past participle crippled | /ˈkrɪpld/ /ˈkrɪpld/ |
| -ing form crippling | /ˈkrɪplɪŋ/ /ˈkrɪplɪŋ/ |
- [usually passive] to damage somebody’s body so that they are no longer able to walk or move normally synonym disable
- be crippled (by something) He was crippled by polio as a child.
- be crippled with something She's eighty and crippled with arthritis.
Extra ExamplesTopics Illnessc2- As a child she contracted polio and was crippled for life.
- The disease left him crippled.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- for life
- permanently
- emotionally
- …
- be crippled with
- leave somebody crippled
- [usually passive] to seriously damage or harm somebody/something
- be crippled (by something) The industry has been financially crippled by these policies.
- Sugar producers have been crippled by plummeting prices.
- The pilot tried to land his crippled plane.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- severely
- financially
Word OriginOld English: from two words, crypel and crēopel, both of Germanic origin and related to creep.