# cripple

/ˈkɹɪpəɫ/ (US) · /kɹˈɪpəl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/cripple
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. to damage or disable

verb · CEFR B2

to damage something so badly that it cannot work or move properly.

For teachers: to cause severe and disabling damage to a system, organisation, or physical object, rendering it unable to function normally.

- The massive snowstorm threatened to cripple the city's transport system for days.
- High interest rates and falling exports combined to cripple the manufacturing sector, leading to widespread factory closures across the region.

### 2. to cause physical injury

verb · CEFR C1 · Literary

to cause a serious injury that stops someone from using their body normally.

For teachers: to deprive a person or animal of the use of a limb or to cause permanent physical impairment.

- The accident in the factory threatened to cripple him for life.
- The veteran had been crippled by shrapnel during the final months of the conflict, a detail the novelist uses to highlight the cost of war.

Usage: Often used in the passive voice in older literature.

Teaching tip: In modern contexts, this is often replaced by 'severely injured' or 'disabled' to avoid the offensive connotations of the related noun.

### 3. to reduce functionality

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to intentionally limit what a computer program or machine can do.

For teachers: to release a product, particularly software, with reduced functionality to encourage upgrades or for security reasons.

- The free version of the software is crippled so you can only save small files.
- Developers often cripple trial versions of their applications, disabling essential export features until a full license is purchased.

### 4. offensive term for a person

noun · CEFR C2 · Vulgar

a very old-fashioned and extremely offensive word for a person with a physical disability.

For teachers: a person with a physical disability. This term is now considered highly offensive and derogatory in almost all contexts.

- The book used the word cripple, which was common in the 1800s but is offensive today.
- Modern editors often include footnotes in classic literature to explain that terms like 'cripple' are now considered derogatory slurs.

Teaching tip: This word is considered a slur in modern English. Learners should never use it to describe a person, though they may encounter it in historical texts.

## Examples

- The heavy snow will cripple the city's transport system.
- A sudden cyberattack managed to cripple the bank's servers for several hours yesterday.
- The sudden withdrawal of foreign investment threatened to cripple the nation's emerging tech sector before it could reach maturity.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.