To incapacitate someone means to take away their ability to function normally or do what they usually can do. When something incapacitates you, it leaves you unable to act, work, or take care of yourself the way you normally would.

A serious illness might incapacitate a teacher for several weeks, forcing them to stay home from school. A sprained ankle could incapacitate a soccer player during an important game. In action movies, heroes sometimes try to incapacitate villains without seriously hurting them, using techniques that temporarily prevent them from moving or fighting back.

A blizzard might incapacitate an entire city by making roads impassable and knocking out power. Fear can even incapacitate people emotionally, leaving them frozen and unable to think clearly or make decisions.

Doctors sometimes use related terms like incapacitated to describe patients who can't make their own medical decisions, or incapacitation to describe the state of being unable to function. The word suggests a temporary or permanent loss of normal abilities, whether physical, mental, or both.