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Cripple

//ˈkɹɪp(ə)l// adj, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Crippled. archaic, dated, not-comparable

    "And chide the cripple tardy-gaited night, who, like a foul and ugly witch, doth limp so tediously away."

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who has severely impaired physical abilities because of deformation, injury, or amputation of parts of the body. countable, offensive, uncountable

    "He returned from war a cripple."

  2. 2
    someone who is unable to walk normally because of an injury or disability to the legs or back wordnet
  3. 3
    A person who is severely impaired or deficient in some non-physical way. broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "Many a one, who perhaps doesn't suspect it, is a moral cripple, or maybe a mental cripple."

  4. 4
    A shortened wooden stud or brace used to construct the portion of a wall above a door or above and below a window. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    Scrapple. dialectal, uncountable
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  1. 6
    A rocky shallow in a stream. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To make someone a cripple; to cause someone to become physically impaired.

    "The car bomb crippled five passers-by."

  2. 2
    deprive of the use of a limb, especially a leg wordnet
  3. 3
    To damage seriously; to destroy. figuratively

    "My ambitions were crippled by a lack of money."

  4. 4
    deprive of strength or efficiency; make useless or worthless wordnet
  5. 5
    To cause severe and disabling damage; to make unable to function normally. figuratively

    "With all these people all around / I'm crippled with anxiety / But I'm told it's where I'm s'posed to be."

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  1. 6
    To release a product (especially a computer program) with reduced functionality, in some cases, making the item essentially worthless.

    "The word processor was released in a crippled demonstration version that did not allow you to save."

  2. 7
    To nerf something to the point of being underpowered. slang

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English cripel, crepel, crüpel, from Old English crypel (“crippled; a cripple”), from Proto-Germanic *krupilaz (“tending to crawl; a cripple”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewb- (“to bend, crouch, crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to bend, twist”), equivalent to creep + -le. Cognate with Dutch kreupel, Low German Kröpel, German Krüppel, Old Norse kryppill.

Etymology 2

From Middle English cripel, crepel, crüpel, from Old English crypel (“crippled; a cripple”), from Proto-Germanic *krupilaz (“tending to crawl; a cripple”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewb- (“to bend, crouch, crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to bend, twist”), equivalent to creep + -le. Cognate with Dutch kreupel, Low German Kröpel, German Krüppel, Old Norse kryppill.

Etymology 3

From Middle English cripel, crepel, crüpel, from Old English crypel (“crippled; a cripple”), from Proto-Germanic *krupilaz (“tending to crawl; a cripple”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewb- (“to bend, crouch, crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to bend, twist”), equivalent to creep + -le. Cognate with Dutch kreupel, Low German Kröpel, German Krüppel, Old Norse kryppill.

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