Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
inflame
inflammable
inflammation
inflammatory
inflammatory bowel disease
inflatable
inflate
inflated
inflation
inflation accounting
inflation tax
inflationary
inflationary gap
inflationary spiral
inflationary theory
inflationary universe
inflationism
Click to move down the list of words
Also available:

World English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Français

inflict

in·flict [ in flíkt ] (past and past participle in·flict·ed, present participle in·flict·ing, 3rd person present singular in·flicts)


transitive verb 
Definition:
 
1. cause suffering: to be the cause of something harmful or unpleasant such as loss, injury, or damage to somebody or something
Our artillery inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy forces.

2. force on somebody: to impose something burdensome or inconvenient on somebody
In that case I won't inflict my company on you any longer.

[Mid-16th century. < Latin inflict-, past participle of infligere "strike upon" < fligere "to hit"]

in·flict·a·ble adjective
in·flict·er noun
in·flic·tion noun
in·flic·tive adjective

Word Usage

See afflict.

Advertisement

© 2009 Microsoft