disabled, ppl. a.
(dɪsˈeɪb(ə)ld)
[f. disable v. + -ed1.]
Rendered incapable of action or use, esp. by physical injury; incapacitated: see the verb.
| 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Crosse iii, I am in all a weak disabled thing. 1695 Lond. Gaz. No. 3142/2 He saw off the Durces a disabled Ship. 1725 Pope Odyss. iii. 381 Shatter'd vessels, and disabled oars. 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. III. 190 The families of intemperate or disabled men. |
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Add: b. absol. as n. pl.: the disabled.
| 1916 19th Cent. Oct. 823 The solution of the disablement problem is..to train the disabled till they can earn a living wage. 1921 Industrial Managem. LXII. 345/1 France, Belgium, England, [etc.]..saw the possibilities of salvaging the disabled and putting those disabled through war service back into their communities as re-built, re-trained men. 1961 Hansard Commons 20 Mar. 44 Houses for the old people, for the sick and the disabled. 1976 Morecambe Guardian 7 Dec. 19/2 ‘Never give up the fight to get four-wheeled cars for the disabled,’ said the Mayor. 1985 Sunday Tel. 9 June 16/6 The union objects..to the expression ‘the disabled’ as a collective label. The approved expression is ‘people with disabilities’. 1990 Social Work Today 6 Sept. 12/1 It decided to rename the Minister for the Disabled..Minister for Disabled People... [BASW] wants the Department to use the term ‘people with disabilities’. |
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▸ a. Designating the status of a disabled person, esp. one recognized as disabled by the state, and who is consequently entitled to certain rights or privileges; (also) designating a means of identifying a vehicle, etc., as belonging to such a person, as disabled badge, disabled sticker.
| 1923 Federal Reporter (U.S.) (1924) 294 111 Is his disabled status ‘permanent’. If he recovers, his disability no longer total and permanent, he will no longer be entitled to insurance payments. 1983 H. Rodman & C. Safilios-Rothschild in H. Z. Lopata & J. H. Pleck Res. in Interweave of Social Roles 3 226 Policymakers..can legitimize the disabled status and its exemptions and privileges. 1987 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 6 Sept. ii. 1/1 Even when the officers aren't being insulted they're often being conned... Some of the more typical ones..: Young beachgoers borrowing a grandparent's disabled sign [etc.]. 1988 J. Trollope Choir ix. 161 Alexander walked slowly beside him out to his waiting car with its huge orange disabled stickers. 1994 Scotsman (Electronic ed.) 18 June One doesn't get a disabled badge if one is able to walk distances. 2000 Business Day (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 25 Aug. 6 Most people entitled to disability grants were unable to access the funds as there was no one to certify their disabled status. |
b. Of a facility, etc.: designed or adapted for use by the physically disabled (esp. those using wheelchairs).
disabled access n. access (to a building, etc.) for the physically disabled; the adaptations or installations in a building, etc., that allow this.
| 1977H. E. Hinton in G. Laurie Housing & Home Service for Disabled viii. 135 The economics of handicapped housing..shows disabled housing to be as good an investment as any other residential income. 1985 Financial Times 23 July 17/2 Refurbishment plans include improvement to the Grays Monument entrance..and perhaps improvement of toilets and disabled facilities. 1987 Guardian (Nexis) 7 Feb. Follow the sign that reads disabled toilet. 1998 K. Lette Altar Ego (1999) xxiv. 215 Anouska dented a bollard in a heart-stopping, paint-scraping manoeuvre which Houdinied her into a disabled parking place. 1999 Cathedral Music No. 1. 24/1 The floor of the Quire is being repaved in marble, disabled access and floodlighting are being installed. 2001 S. Wales Evening Post (Electronic ed.) 5 June Council workmen arrived at a house..to install a disabled ramp for [a] tenant..who had died a year earlier. |