as in crippling
to cause severe or permanent injury to
was lucky not to be mutilated in the car crash
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Recent Examples of mutilating
The Times reported that Benkired lured Lola to her apartment before raping her, mutilating her and eventually fatally suffocating her with duct tape.
—
Liam Quinn, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Koch was never convicted of mutilating the corpses of the people who were murdered in Buchenwald; though some gruesome items were discovered there, there was no proof that they were connected to her.
—Elizabeth Yuko, Rolling Stone, 8 Oct. 2025
According to the Statesman Journal, Brudos admitted to mutilating the bodies of his victims.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Oct. 2025
More than 3,000 Hamas fighters gunned down civilians, torturing and mutilating some of them in their own homes, still in their pajamas.
—Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
After a nearly two-week-long trial, a Milwaukee County jury found Anderson, a 34-year-old former bartender, guilty on all counts on June 6, including first-degree intentional homicide and mutilating a corpse, in connection to Robinson's killing.
—Drake Bentley, jsonline.com, 21 Sep. 2025
In 2013, 15-year-old Daniel Marsh was accused of killing and mutilating the bodies of an elderly couple living nearby his father in California.
—Toni Fitzgerald, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Liam Quinn, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Koch was never convicted of mutilating the corpses of the people who were murdered in Buchenwald; though some gruesome items were discovered there, there was no proof that they were connected to her.
—Elizabeth Yuko, Rolling Stone, 8 Oct. 2025
According to the Statesman Journal, Brudos admitted to mutilating the bodies of his victims.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Oct. 2025
More than 3,000 Hamas fighters gunned down civilians, torturing and mutilating some of them in their own homes, still in their pajamas.
—Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
After a nearly two-week-long trial, a Milwaukee County jury found Anderson, a 34-year-old former bartender, guilty on all counts on June 6, including first-degree intentional homicide and mutilating a corpse, in connection to Robinson's killing.
—Drake Bentley, jsonline.com, 21 Sep. 2025
In 2013, 15-year-old Daniel Marsh was accused of killing and mutilating the bodies of an elderly couple living nearby his father in California.
—Toni Fitzgerald, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mutilating
Verb
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Since then, they've been forced to work remotely — at a time when the government was doling out return-to-office mandates — preventing access to labs and crippling the center's mission of embedding NASA climate scientists within international academia.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
31 Oct. 2025
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On December 7, 1941, 353 Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans and crippling much of the Pacific Fleet.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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He is accused of slipping incapacitating drugs into victims’ food or drinks before assaulting them between 2021 and 2024.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
16 Oct. 2025
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While the name suggests something far more trivial, significant damage to the ligaments of the metatarsophalangeal joint can be incapacitating.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The most jarring example is the June 20, 2021 massacre in Richmond, where SSL-502 members allegedly opened fire at a house party where people were celebrating the Guatemalan Summer Solstice, killing three and wounding four.—
Harry Harris,
Mercury News,
29 Oct. 2025
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Williams shot two, police say, wounding one and killing Comeaux.—
Mitchell Willetts,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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He was officially charged with boating under the influence, including causing the death of Mallory and seriously injuring two other passengers.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025
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Under state statute, the owner of a dog is liable for the full amount of damages their animal has caused by injuring or causing injury to a person, domestic animal or property.—
Anna Kleiber,
jsonline.com,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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By holding a button, a simple katana suddenly becomes a 10-foot blade, or a rapier sprouts a demolition-grade power drill — all capable of viscerally dismembering and maiming foes.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
20 Oct. 2025
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To my relief and delight, the firearm had not exploded in my face, maiming me for life.—
Caity Weaver,
The Atlantic,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
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By enabling or disabling layers (layout, markers, heat map) and adjusting layer opacity, users get a clear, customizable view of what’s happening—and where to look next.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
30 Oct. 2025
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The first biography of James Schuyler suggests that his tendency to withdraw was both a harbinger of his disabling mood disorder and the wellspring of his shimmering poetry.—
Langdon Hammer,
The New York Review of Books,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Many on the left have been in an uproar of late, accusing Trump of damaging White House history as construction begins on a new White House ballroom.—
Ashley J. DiMella,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
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People have filmed themselves shaving their heads, damaging property, ripping up passports and setting themselves on fire, The Sun reported, citing Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the Safe Internet League.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Wuornos was convicted of first-degree murder in 1992 for killing Mallory and sentenced to death.—
Christina Coulter,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
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Three years later, Wuornos began the killing spree for which she would be remembered, murdering at least six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mutilating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mutilating. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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