noun
sabotage
SA-buh-tahzh
noun
1
A deliberate act intended to damage, weaken, or derail someone or something, usually by underhand or destructive means.
"Investigators suspected sabotage after the factory's main line failed twice in one week."
"She accused her rival of sabotage after the presentation files went missing."
verb
1
To deliberately damage, disrupt, or undermine something so it fails.
"He was fired for sabotaging the merger negotiations."
"Someone sabotaged the printer right before the deadline."
How to Use Sabotage
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishWrecking or undermining something on purpose so it can't succeed.
Common pairings
act of sabotage
industrial sabotage
sabotage a plan
accused of sabotage
Word Forms
sabotaged past tense, sabotages plural, sabotages singular
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Investigators suspected _____ after the factory's main line failed twice in one week.
Etymology
Borrowed directly from French sabotage, itself from saboter — traditionally linked to sabot, a wooden clog, from the old idea of workers wrecking machinery with their clogs.