Definition of "cripple" []

• A person or animal that is partially disabled or unable to use a limb or limbs: cannot race a horse that is a cripple. (noun)
• A damaged or defective object or device. (noun)
• To cause to lose the use of a limb or limbs. (verb-transitive)
• To disable, damage, or impair the functioning of: a strike that crippled the factory. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Everyone believed that she could be wounded by the word cripple."
• "Burnt: My dad LOVED using the word cripple just to annoy people!"
• "Since we can bring up the system in "cripple mode," we're doing integrity checks manually."