dislocate

UK/dɪsləʊˈkeɪt/US/dɪsˈloʊkeɪt/

verbB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,832 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: dislocated, dislocating, dislocates

To dislocate is to knock a bone out of its proper joint. Dislocate a shoulder, a dislocated finger, dislocate the knee.

The shoulder is the commonest, because it trades stability for range of movement, and once dislocated it is far likelier to go again. Putting one back is a medical job, since nerves and vessels run close by.

Definitions of dislocate

1verbdislocateTo knock a bone out of its proper joint.B2+
“She dislocated her finger catching the ball, and it stuck out at a strange angle.”

dislocate is an injuring.

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*stel-
Latin
locātus
English
locate
English, today
dislocate

Built from

locō · Latin — to place
locus · Latin — place

From dis- + locate. locate Latin locātus, perfect passive participle of locō (“to place”) (see -ate), from locus (“place”) + -ō. Cognate with French louer; see also local and lieu.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Body & Health

Practise this word

dislocate in the wild

A strong electric shock can often cause painful muscle spasms severe enough to dislocate joints or even to break bones.
Electrical injury
A Bankart lesion is a type of shoulder injury that occurs following a dislocated shoulder.
Bankart lesion
When this happens, a pocket at the front of the glenoid forms that allows the humeral head to dislocate into it.
Bankart lesion
The community is impacted by the California High-Speed Rail, as the planned route will dislocate residents.
Fairmead, California
Frodo was born double jointed which means he can dislocate joints, he uses this as the basis for most of his acts.
Captain Frodo

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the locō family

locate

dislocate — used about once every 16,706 pages · #12,832 · point at the bar for the others

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