PARALYSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does paralyse mean? 

• PARALYSE (verb)
  The verb PARALYSE has 2 senses:

1. make powerless and unable to function

2. cause to be paralyzed and immobile

  Familiarity information: PARALYSE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PARALYSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they paralyse    ... he / she / it paralyses   
Past simple: paralysed   
Past participle: paralysed   
-ing form: paralysing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make powerless and unable to function

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

paralyse; paralyze

Context example:

The bureaucracy paralyzes the entire operation

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

deactivate; inactivate (make inactive)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to be paralyzed and immobile

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

paralyse; paralyze

Context example:

Fear paralyzed her

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

immobilise; immobilize (cause to be unable to move)

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

palsy (affect with palsy)

Sentence frames:

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

 Context examples 

I was paralysed by the sight of such grief.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

We set out cold, we arrived at church colder: during the morning service we became almost paralysed.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

For an instant my heart stood still, and I would have screamed out, only that I was paralysed.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“That was the last play of the Wolf,” he said. I am paralysed. I shall never walk again.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

For a moment he was paralysed.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The wretch sank into a chair, paralysed at the sight of my revolver.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To a poor bookworm and invalid like myself such a blow is paralysing.

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

For a space of possibly three seconds of time she had been dazed and paralysed by the horrible and inconceivable form in which the unexpected had made its appearance.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Again the poor man groaned; he looked as if he dared not move; fear, either of death or of something else, appeared almost to paralyse him.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I stood paralysed, with the little box in my hand.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)