maim

[ meym ]

verb (used with object)

1. to deprive of the use of some part of the body by wounding or the like; cripple:

   The explosion maimed him for life.

2. to impair; make essentially defective:

   The essay was maimed by deletion of important paragraphs.

   Synonyms: mar, deface, disable, injure

noun

, Obsolete.

1. a physical injury, especially a loss of a limb.
2. an injury or defect; blemish; lack.

maim

/ meɪm; ˈmeɪmɪdnɪs /

verb

1. to mutilate, cripple, or disable a part of the body of (a person or animal)
2. to make defective

noun

1. obsolete.
   an injury or defect

Derived Forms

• ˈmaimer, noun
• maimedness, noun

Other Words From

• maim·er noun
• re·maim verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of maim¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English mayme, variant of mahayme mayhem

Word History and Origins

Origin of maim¹

C14: from Old French mahaignier to wound, probably of Germanic origin

Synonym Study

Maim, lacerate, mangle, mutilate indicate the infliction of painful and severe injuries on the body. To maim is to injure by giving a disabling wound, or by depriving a person of one or more members or their use: maimed in an accident. To lacerate is to inflict severe cuts and tears on the flesh or skin: to lacerate an arm. To mangle is to chop undiscriminatingly or to crush or rend by blows or pressure, as if by machinery: bodies mangled in a train wreck. To mutilate is to injure the completeness or beauty of a body, especially by cutting off an important member: to mutilate a statue, a tree, a person.

Example Sentences

But doctors warn that such “button batteries” can maim and kill.

From Los Angeles Times

Not to bring the mood down too much, but the stories are piling up of women killed or maimed because of abortion bans.

From Salon

Before leaving I asked Ivana’s father if he had anything to say to those responsible for maiming his little girl.

From BBC

“The heavy blast radius kills and maims civilians nearby”, he said, in reference to Israeli air strikes.

From BBC

In a widely viewed clip, Sinwar is shown seated alone inside a shattered building, one arm maimed and motionless, using his good arm to hurl a stick or pole at the Israeli drone tracking him.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• disable
• disfigure
• dismember
• hack
• harm
• impair
• incapacitate
• injure
• mangle
• maul
• mutilate
• wound