Word · Frequency #19302
mutilate
使残废；切断（肢体）；严重毁伤
to injure someone so severely that a body part is cut off or can no longer be used
- 1.
To physically harm as to impair use, notably by cutting off or otherwise disabling a vital part, such as a limb.
造成身体伤害以致损害功能,尤指切断或致残重要部位(如肢体)。
- 2.
To destroy beyond recognition.
毁坏得面目全非。
- 3.
To render imperfect or defective.
使变得不完美或有缺陷。
毁坏得面目全非；严重损毁；使不完美；使有缺陷；破坏；造成身体伤害以致损害功能,尤指切断或致残重要部位(如肢体)。；毁坏得面目全非。；使变得不完美或有缺陷。
In use
The vandal mutilated the ancient statue by breaking off its arms.
The report was so heavily mutilated that only a few fragments were legible.
He mutilates his own poems by cutting out entire stanzas.
mutilate sth
sth 可以是具体物品或抽象事物，如文件、文本等。
The vandals mutilated the painting.
破坏者毁坏了那幅画。
mutilate sb
The attacker mutilated his victim.
袭击者使他的受害者致残。
be mutilated
常用被动语态描述结果状态。
The body was badly mutilated in the accident.
Connections
Collocations
- mutilate a body
- 使尸体残缺不全；毁损尸体
- The killer mutilated the body and left it in the woods.凶手把尸体毁损得残缺不全，然后把它丢在树林里。
- mutilate someone's face
- 毁损某人的面容；使人毁容
- The acid attack mutilated her face beyond recognition.那次泼酸袭击把她的脸毁得面目全非。
- mutilate a document
- 毁损文件；破坏文件
- He mutilated the document so that the signature could not be read.他把文件毁损得连签名都无法辨认。
- mutilate a painting
- 毁损画作；破坏一幅画
- The angry visitor mutilated the painting with a knife.那位愤怒的访客用刀把画毁坏了。
- mutilate a text
- 把文本改得面目全非；严重破坏原文
- The editor mutilated my article by cutting out all the important details.编辑删掉了所有重要细节，把我的文章改得面目全非。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
mutilate 使残废：雕像被砍断手臂而残缺；对比 mutate（变异），mutilate 是破坏致残。
Context & Register
语域：mixed 常见场景：法律/医学描述、新闻报道、日常口语（比喻用法）、文学作品 该词用法较广，正式与非正式场合均可使用。通常字面义（身体伤害）多用于正式或严肃语境（如法律、医学、新闻），而比喻义（使不完美）比较常见于口语或文学描写。
Pronunciation & Spelling
None of these words fully rhymes with mutilate /ˈmjuːtɪleɪt/, whose stressed vowel is /juː/. Ventilate and titillate match mutilate from the second syllable on: /tɪleɪt/ (spelled -tilate/-tillate), so they are strong sound matches for the ending but not perfect rhymes. Simulate and relate share only the final /leɪt/, and relate stresses that ending, unlike mutilate. Private is a warning: its -ate is pronounced /ɪt/, not /eɪt/. Mute matches the initial /mjuː/ spelling and sound but has no /leɪt/ ending.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY, WORDNET.