immobilise

See also: immobilisé

English

Etymology

From French immobiliser, equivalent to immobile +‎ -ise.

Verb

immobilise (third-person singular simple present immobilises, present participle immobilising, simple past and past participle immobilised)

1. (British spelling) Alternative spelling of immobilize
   • 1962 July, “Talking of Trains: U.S. city to subsidise railroads?”, in Modern Railways, page 14:

     For the past three-and-half years the City of Philadelphia has been successfully operating commuter services within city boundaries. The aim is to attract motorists to the rail, to relieve street traffic which has tended to immobilise the city.

   • 2012, Stephen Russell, Handbook for the Urban Warrior: Spiritual Survival Guide, →ISBN:

     You can partially or totally ignore the situation for a short while longer, you can become immobilised with fear, or you can become an urban warrior (or warrioress) and groove on the greatest, most spectacular tragicomic, science-'fiction' drama ever enacted on this planet (probably) until the lights go out.

   • 2019 September 14, Charles Negromonte Santos, “Fitness tips: three benefits of Brazilian jiu-jitsu”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     It’s all based on immobilising your opponent, rather than punching or kicking them, which means you learn how to neutralise, for example, a stranger grabbing your wrist.

   • 2023 February 9, Melissa Davey, “‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Australian researchers have found a protein in the lungs that sticks to the Covid-19 virus like velcro and immobilises it, which may explain why some people never become sick with the virus while others suffer serious illness.

French

Verb

immobilise

1. inflection of immobiliser:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative