ENABLE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does enable mean? 

• ENABLE (verb)
  The verb ENABLE has 1 sense:

1. render capable or able for some task

  Familiarity information: ENABLE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENABLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they enable    ... he / she / it enables   
Past simple: enabled   
Past participle: enabled   
-ing form: enabling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Render capable or able for some task

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The rope enables you to secure yourself when you climb the mountain

Hypernyms (to "enable" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "enable"):

equip (provide with abilities or understanding)

empower; endow; endue; gift; indue; invest (give qualities or abilities to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Antonym:

disable (make unable to perform a certain action)

 Context examples 

Zamboni says the findings show that several molecules of the human immune system may potentially enable the development of drugs.

(Study uncovers cause of aggressive leishmaniasis strain, SciDev.Net)

“My love, no. Perseverance and strength of character will enable us to bear much worse things.” “But I haven't got any strength at all,” said Dora, shaking her curls.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The material could enable a range of new applications from gripper arms for delicate or heavy objects to antennas that change frequencies on the fly.

(Tiny magnetic particles enable new material to bend, twist and grab, National Science Foundation)

Now, however, ALMA's sensitivity has enabled astronomers to determine the distance of MAMBO-9.

(ALMA spots most distant dusty galaxy hidden in plain sight, National Science Foundation)

A syringe with a measured dose of medication that has an apparatus that enables the user to specify the amount of the medication to deliver in an injection.

(Adjustable Dose Pre-filled Pen Syringe, NCI Thesaurus)

The activation of IGF-1R, a receptor tyrosine kinase of the insulin receptor superfamily, stimulates cell proliferation, enables oncogenic transformation, and suppresses apoptosis; IGF-1R signaling has been implicated in tumorigenesis and metastasis.

(Anti-IGF-1R Monoclonal Antibody R1507, NCI Thesaurus)

IGF1/2 ligands stimulate cell proliferation, enable oncogenic transformation, and suppress apoptosis; IGF1/2 signaling has been highly implicated in tumorigenesis and metastasis.

(Anti-IGF1/2 Monoclonal Antibody MEDI-573, NCI Thesaurus)

This enables them to treat or even correct some problems before the baby is born.

(Birth Defects, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Presently he stopped and picked out a square piece of board, such as is usually left to enable plumbers to get at the joints of the gas-pipes.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Activation of IGF-1R, a receptor tyrosine kinase of the insulin receptor superfamily overexpressed by various cancer cell types, stimulates cell proliferation, promotes angiogenesis, enables oncogenic transformation, and suppresses apoptosis.

(Anti-IGF-1R Monoclonal Antibody AVE1642, NCI Thesaurus)