paralyze

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“
True love does not paralyze, but doubles the high qualities of man.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. transitive verb To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic.
  2. transitive verb To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear.
  3. transitive verb To impair the progress or functioning of; make inoperative or powerless: strict regulations that paralyze economic activity.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (49)

  • It produces temporary paralysis Chalam was the tree, the sap of which was thrown into water to temporarily paralyze or stun fish. —  117 - They Died Twice
  • If you could point your finger and paralyze or stun or burn Then the Good Magician would have had other defenses for his castle, that those talents would be useless against. —  Castle Roogna
  • One sting could paralyze or kill, depending on the insect and its venom. —  F ;SF; - vol 104 issue 03 - March 2003
  • It's given with the edge of the flat hand, and it can paralyze or even be fatal. —  The Fabulous Clipjoint
  • The techniques of oppression abroad brought a pack of plagues back to Europe, observed Kiernan, whether in Lord Salisbury's crass judgment that the Irish were no more fit for home rule than Hottentots or in the imperial manner of warfare that relied on hard-charging offensive techniques designed "to hypnotize and paralyze the enemy by asserting the firmer will and higher morale of the attacker." —  The Nation: Top Stories
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French paralyser, from paralysie, paralysis, from Old French, from Latin paralysis; see paralysis.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French paralyser = Portuguese paralysar, paralyze; from the noun: see paralysis. Cf. analyze, from analysis.
 

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/ˈpærəlaɪz/
by American Heritage

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