Crippling

How to spell crippling

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce crippling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does crippling mean?

1. adjectiveCausing severe damage, weakness, or limitation.
2. verbIn the act of causing severe damage to or severely weakening something.

Crippling in a sentence

• adjective

  The family faced crippling debt after the business failed.

• verb

  Rising fuel costs are crippling the haulage industry.

• adjective

  A crippling shortage of staff forced the clinic to close early.

• verb

  The strike is crippling the city's transport network.

Where does crippling come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English noun crypel, meaning a lame or disabled person, which is related to the verb creopan, 'to creep' or 'to crawl', since someone unable to walk upright was imagined as moving low to the ground. The same Germanic root gave Dutch kreupel and German Krüppel, all carrying the sense of bent or unable to walk. By the Middle Ages 'cripple' was used as both a noun and a verb, the verb meaning 'to deprive of the power of movement'. The participle 'crippling' developed naturally from the verb and broadened from physical lameness to any force that severely weakens or paralyses, such as crippling debt or a crippling injury. The single p in 'creep' may tempt writers, but here the consonant doubles before the -ing, giving the double p of crippling.

How the word is built

• cripple (from Old English crypel: a lame or disabled person)
• -ing (forming an adjective or present participle)