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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Disable


DISABLE, verb transitive [dis and able.]

1. To render unable; to deprive of competent natural strength or power. A man is disabled to walk by a broken or paralytic leg, by sickness, etc.

2. To deprive of mental power, as by destroying or weakening the understanding.

3. To deprive of adequate means, instruments or resources. A nation may be disabled to carry on war by want of money. The loss of a ship may disable a man to prosecute commerce, or to pay his debts.

4. To destroy the strength; or to weaken and impair so as to render incapable of action, service or resistance. A fleet is disabled by a storm, or by a battle. A ship is disabled by the loss of her masts or spars.

5. To destroy or impair and weaken the means which render any thing active, efficacious or useful; to destroy or diminish any competent means.

6. To deprive of legal qualifications, or competent power; to incapacitate; to render incapable.

An attainder of the ancestor corrupts the blood and disables his children to inherit.