Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Often Offensive A person who is partially disabled or unable to use one or more limbs.
- noun An animal that is partially disabled or unable to use one or more limbs.
- noun A damaged or defective object or device.
- transitive verb To cause to lose the use of a limb or limbs.
- transitive verb To disable, damage, or impair the functioning of.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A kind of temporary staging used by window-cleaners.
- noun In railroading, a freight-car or other car which has been injured or damaged in its running gear or is for any other reason unfit for use. A ear condemned by a car-inspector as a cripple must be cut out of its train and sent to the cripple-track. See
drill-yard . - noun One who creeps, halts, or limps; one who is partially or wholly deprived of the use of one or more of his limbs; a lame person: also applied to animals.
- noun A dense thicket in swampy or low land; a patch of low timber-growth.
- noun A rocky shallow in a stream: so called by lumbermen.
- Lame; decrepit.
- To walk haltingly, like a cripple.
- To make (one) a cripple; partly disable by injuring a limb or limbs; deprive of the free use of a limb or limbs, especially of a leg or foot; lame.
- To disable in part; impair the power or efficiency of; weaken by impairment: as, the fleet was crippled in the engagement; to cripple one's resources by bad debts.
- Synonyms Maim, Disfigure. etc. See
mutilate .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Swampy or low wet ground, often covered with brush or with thickets; bog.
- noun A rocky shallow in a stream; -- a lumberman's term.
- noun One who creeps, halts, or limps; one who has lost, or never had, the use of a limb or limbs; a lame person; hence, one who is partially disabled.
- adjective rare Lame; halting.
- transitive verb To deprive of the use of a limb, particularly of a leg or foot; to lame.
- transitive verb To deprive of strength, activity, or capability for service or use; to disable; to deprive of resources.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Crippled . - noun a
person who has severe impairment in hisphysical abilities because ofdeformation ,injury , oramputation of parts of the body. - noun a shortened
wooden stud orbrace used to construct the portion of a wall above adoor or above and below awindow . - noun dialect
scrapple . - verb to make someone a cripple; to cause someone to get a physical disability
- verb figuratively to
damage seriously ; todestroy - verb to release a
product (especially acomputer program ) with reduced functionality, in some cases, making the item essentially worthless.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb deprive of strength or efficiency; make useless or worthless
- noun someone who is unable to walk normally because of an injury or disability to the legs or back
- verb deprive of the use of a limb, especially a leg
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Everyone believed that she could be wounded by the word cripple.
The View from Saturday E. L. Konigsburg 1996
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Burnt: My dad LOVED using the word cripple just to annoy people!
Things I wonder about ... Lisa B. 2007
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BUT Tom G cripple is not a term that is used anymore.
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Since we can bring up the system in "cripple mode," we're doing integrity checks manually.
Boing Boing: January 25, 2004 - January 31, 2004 Archives 2004
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He appeals to themselves concerning the truth of the miracle; the man on whom it was wrought is one whom you see, and know, and have known; he was not acquainted with Peter and John before, so that there was no room to suspect a compact between them: You know him to have been a cripple from a child.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation) 1721
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The pattern of tire treads in the snow, the memory of a 4-year-old child and whether the word cripple is synonymous with kill could determine whether Kevin Keith dies next month for a triple murder in Bucyrus more than 16 years ago.
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Namely, getting offended at the word cripple but not g0lliw0gg or P@ki.
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Namely, getting offended at the word cripple but not g0lliw0gg or P@ki.
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There's no shame attached to the word cripple I can find in any dictionary.
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I'd like to see you try to paint a better picture with your broken arms, you friggin 'cripple.
Swords And Scrolls Challenge! Cromsblood 2009
hernesheir commented on the word cripple
"Cannot contract yet; market too excited". --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906.
January 21, 2013