maim
[verb]
Synonyms: cripple, disable, hurt, injure, mutilate, wound

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Contrasted words: rehabilitate, restore, salvage, cure, fix, heal, mend, remedy, repair
Related Words: disable, disfigure, hamstring, batter, break, bung up, mangle, massacre, maul

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English Thesaurus: hurt, injure, wound, maim, break, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

maim /meɪm/ verb [transitive]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: maynier]
to wound or injure someone very seriously and often permanently:
Landmines still kill or maim about 300 people every month.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

hurt to damage part of your body, or someone else’s body:
She slipped on the ice and hurt herself badly.
Be careful you don’t hurt anyone with that knife.
injure to hurt yourself quite severely, or to be hurt in an accident or fighting:
One of our players has injured his leg, and will be out of the game for weeks.
Four people have been seriously injured on the Arizona highway.
wound to deliberately hurt someone using a weapon such as a knife or gun:
The gunmen shot and killed twelve people and wounded three others.
maim /meɪm/ [usually passive] to hurt someone very severely, especially so that they lose an arm, leg etc, often as the result of an explosion:
In countries where there are landmines, people are killed and maimed daily.
break to hurt a part of your body by breaking a bone in it:
The X-ray showed that I had broken my wrist.
bruise to hurt a part of your body when you fall on it or hit it, causing a dark mark to appear on your skin:
Cathy fell off her bike and bruised her legs badly.
sprain/twist to hurt your knee, wrist, shoulder etc by suddenly twisting it while you are moving:
I jumped down from the wall and landed awkwardly, spraining my ankle.
strain/pull to hurt one of your muscles by stretching it or using it too much:
When you are lifting heavy loads, be careful not to strain a back muscle.
dislocate to damage a joint in your body in a way that moves the two parts of the joint out of their normal position:
Our best batsman dislocated his shoulder during training.
paralyse [usually passive] to make someone lose the ability to move part or all of their body:
A climbing accident had left him paralysed from the chest down.
ache to hurt with a continuous pain:
I’d been walking all day and my legs were really aching.
throb to feel a bad pain that comes and goes again in a regular and continuous way:
Lou had a terrible headache and his whole head seemed to be throbbing.
sting to feel a sharp pain, or to make someone feel this, especially in your eyes, throat, or skin:
My throat stings every time I swallow.
This injection may sting a little.
smart to hurt with a sudden sharp pain – used especially about your eyes, or your skin where something has hit you:
Her eyes were smarting from the thick smoke.
Jackson’s face was still smarting from the punch.
burn to feel very hot and painful or uncomfortable:
Be careful because this chemical will make your skin burn.
His eyes were burning because of the gas.
pinch if something you are wearing pinches you, it is too tight and presses painfully on your skin:
The shirt was a bit too small and it was pinching my neck.
something is killing me spoken informal used when something feels very painful:
My legs are killing me.
These shoes are killing me.
a bad back/leg/arm etc if you have a bad back/leg/arm etc, it feels painful:
He’s off work with a bad back.
upset [not before noun] unhappy and worried because something unpleasant or disappointing has happened:
Miss Hurley is too upset to speak to anyone at the moment.
She’s still deeply upset about her uncle’s death.
He’s upset that he didn’t get an invitation to their wedding.
distressed very upset:
Priests have been counselling distressed relatives of the victims.
She was visibly distressed after hearing of her husband’s accident.
Matilda was too distressed to speak.
distraught written so upset and worried that you are unable to do normal things, and nothing can make you feel calm:
Benson was so distraught over the breakup of his marriage that he felt like committing suicide.
The distraught parents of the missing baby have made a public appeal for her return.
in a (terrible) state British English informal so upset that you cannot stop crying:
She called me one night in a terrible state, saying she wanted to die.
I could see that she was in a bit of a state.
be worked up informal to be very upset or angry, so that you think things are worse than they really are:
I was too worked up to sleep.
It’s not worth getting worked up about. Anyone can make a mistake.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

injury damage to part of your body caused by an accident or an attack:
The passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
wound an injury, especially a deep cut in your skin made by a knife, bullet, or bomb:
He died of a gunshot wound to the head.
cut a small injury made when a sharp object cuts your skin:
Blood was running from a cut on his chin.
bruise a dark mark on your skin that you get when you fall or get hit:
Jack often comes home from playing rugby covered in bruises.
graze/scrape a small injury that marks your skin or breaks the surface slightly:
She fell off her bike and got a few grazes on her legs and knees.
gash a long deep cut:
He had a deep gash across his forehead.
bump an area of skin that is swollen because you have hit it against something:
How did you get that bump on your head?
sprain an injury to your ankle, wrist, knee etc, caused by suddenly twisting it:
It’s a slight sprain – you should rest your ankle for a week.
strain an injury to a muscle caused by stretching it or using it too much:
a muscle strain in his neck
fracture a crack or broken part in a bone:
a hip fracture
be badly/seriously wounded
Her husband was seriously wounded in the attack.
be critically wounded (=be so badly wounded that you might die)
He was critically wounded in the attack.
be mortally/fatally wounded
On that same day, he was mortally wounded by an assassin.
be slightly wounded
Two people were shot and slightly wounded.
hurt to damage part of your body, or someone else’s body:
She slipped on the ice and hurt herself badly.
Be careful you don’t hurt anyone with that knife.
injure to hurt yourself quite severely, or to be hurt in an accident or fighting:
One of our players has injured his leg, and will be out of the game for weeks.
Four people have been seriously injured on the Arizona highway.
maim /meɪm/ [usually passive] to hurt someone very severely, especially so that they lose an arm, leg etc, often as the result of an explosion:
In countries where there are landmines, people are killed and maimed daily.
break to hurt a part of your body by breaking a bone in it:
The X-ray showed that I had broken my wrist.
sprain/twist to hurt your knee, wrist, shoulder etc by suddenly twisting it while you are moving:
I jumped down from the wall and landed awkwardly, spraining my ankle.
strain/pull to hurt one of your muscles by stretching it or using it too much:
When you are lifting heavy loads, be careful not to strain a back muscle.
dislocate to damage a joint in your body in a way that moves the two parts of the joint out of their normal position:
Our best batsman dislocated his shoulder during training.
paralyse [usually passive] to make someone lose the ability to move part or all of their body:
A climbing accident had left him paralysed from the chest down.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

injury damage to part of your body caused by an accident or an attack:
The passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
wound an injury, especially a deep cut in your skin made by a knife, bullet, or bomb:
He died of a gunshot wound to the head.
cut a small injury made when a sharp object cuts your skin:
Blood was running from a cut on his chin.
bruise a dark mark on your skin that you get when you fall or get hit:
Jack often comes home from playing rugby covered in bruises.
graze/scrape a small injury that marks your skin or breaks the surface slightly:
She fell off her bike and got a few grazes on her legs and knees.
gash a long deep cut:
He had a deep gash across his forehead.
bump an area of skin that is swollen because you have hit it against something:
How did you get that bump on your head?
sprain an injury to your ankle, wrist, knee etc, caused by suddenly twisting it:
It’s a slight sprain – you should rest your ankle for a week.
strain an injury to a muscle caused by stretching it or using it too much:
a muscle strain in his neck
fracture a crack or broken part in a bone:
a hip fracture
hurt to damage part of your body, or someone else’s body:
She slipped on the ice and hurt herself badly.
Be careful you don’t hurt anyone with that knife.
injure to hurt yourself quite severely, or to be hurt in an accident or fighting:
One of our players has injured his leg, and will be out of the game for weeks.
Four people have been seriously injured on the Arizona highway.
maim /meɪm/ [usually passive] to hurt someone very severely, especially so that they lose an arm, leg etc, often as the result of an explosion:
In countries where there are landmines, people are killed and maimed daily.
break to hurt a part of your body by breaking a bone in it:
The X-ray showed that I had broken my wrist.
sprain/twist to hurt your knee, wrist, shoulder etc by suddenly twisting it while you are moving:
I jumped down from the wall and landed awkwardly, spraining my ankle.
strain/pull to hurt one of your muscles by stretching it or using it too much:
When you are lifting heavy loads, be careful not to strain a back muscle.
dislocate to damage a joint in your body in a way that moves the two parts of the joint out of their normal position:
Our best batsman dislocated his shoulder during training.
paralyse [usually passive] to make someone lose the ability to move part or all of their body:
A climbing accident had left him paralysed from the chest down.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲