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.