dislocate

D2I1S1L1O1C3A1T1E1
UK/dɪsləʊˈkeɪt/US/dɪsˈloʊkeɪt/

verb

To put something out of its usual place.

UncommonScrabble 12

Meanings

verbdislocate (third-person singular simple present dislocates, present participle dislocating, simple past and past participle dislocated)

present singular third person dislocates · participle present dislocating · participle past dislocated · past dislocated

  1. To put something out of its usual place.

    Synonyms: displace, disjoint

  2. To emotionally jar, unsettle, or disorient.

    Jarman is out to shock us, not only with some explicit sexuality (as much as he can get away with and still have his film funded by the BBC) but also with a dislocating juxtaposition of historical detail and sensibility.

    1992 May 8, Michael Bronski, “Raging Correctly”, in Gay Community News, page 16
  3. medicineTo (accidentally) dislodge a skeletal bone from its joint.
    1 more example

    Ne take noon hede to brynge togidere þe parties of þe boon þat is to-broken or dislocate, til viij. daies ben goon in þe wyntir, & v. in þe somer; for þanne it schal make quytture, and be sikir from swellynge; & þanne brynge togidere þe brynkis eiþer þe disiuncture after þe techynge þat schal be seid in þe chapitle of algebra.

    a1420, The British Museum Additional MS, 12,056, “Wounds complicated by the Dislocation of a Bone”, in Robert von Fleischhacker, editor, Lanfranc's "Science of cirurgie.", London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, translation of original by Lanfranc of Milan, published 1894, →ISBN, page 63

    Synonyms: luxate

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo put something out of its usual place.

verbTo (accidentally) dislodge a skeletal bone from its joint.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

verbmove out of position

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
  3. Proto-Indo-European*d(w)is-
  4. Proto-Italic*dis-
  5. Latindis-
  6. Old Frenchdes-
  7. Latindis-
  8. Middle Englishdis-
  9. Englishdis-
  10. Englishlocate
  11. Englishdislocate

From dis- + locate.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἐξαρθρόω
  • ἐξαρθρόω (exarthróō)to dislodge a bone
Bulgarian измествам, премествам
  • измествам (izmestvam)to put something out of its usual place
  • премествам (premestvam)to put something out of its usual place
  • изкълчвам (izkălčvam)to dislodge a bone
Catalan dislocar, luxar
  • dislocarto dislodge a bone
  • luxarto dislodge a bone
  • desconjuntarto dislodge a bone
  • desencaixarto dislodge a bone
Chinese Mandarin 弄亂 /弄乱, 脫臼 /脱臼
  • 弄亂 /弄乱 (nòngluàn)to put something out of its usual place
  • 脫臼 /脱臼 (tuōjiù)to dislodge a bone
Czech vykloubit
  • vykloubitto dislodge a bone
Dutch ontwrichten
  • ontwrichtento dislodge a bone
Finnish siirtää sijoiltaan, siirtää sijoiltaan
  • siirtää sijoiltaanto put something out of its usual place
  • siirtää sijoiltaanto dislodge a bone
French disloquer, luxer
  • disloquerto dislodge a bone
  • luxerto dislodge a bone
  • déboîterto dislodge a bone
German auskugeln, ausrenken
  • auskugelnto dislodge a bone
  • ausrenkento dislodge a bone
  • verrenkento dislodge a bone
  • dislozierento dislodge a bone
Greek εξαρθρώνω
  • εξαρθρώνω (exarthróno)to dislodge a bone
Hungarian kificamít
  • kificamítto dislodge a bone
Italian slogare, lussare
  • slogareto dislodge a bone
  • lussareto dislodge a bone
Japanese 脱臼する
  • 脱臼する (dakkyū suru)to dislodge a bone
Latin dislocō, luxō
  • dislocōto put something out of its usual place
  • luxōto dislodge a bone
Polish zwichnąć
  • zwichnąćto dislodge a bone
Portuguese deslocar
  • deslocarto dislodge a bone
Romanian disloca
  • dislocato dislodge a bone
Russian выви́хивать, вы́вихнуть
  • выви́хивать (vyvíxivatʹ)to dislodge a bone
  • вы́вихнуть (vývixnutʹ)to dislodge a bone
Spanish desencajar, dislocar
  • desencajarto put something out of its usual place
  • dislocarto dislodge a bone
  • descoyuntarto dislodge a bone
  • luxarto dislodge a bone
Swedish flytta, undantränga
  • flyttato put something out of its usual place
  • undanträngato put something out of its usual place
  • tränga undanto put something out of its usual place
Tagalog malinsad
  • malinsadto dislodge a bone

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

dislocate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dislocate

MLA

“dislocate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dislocate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dislocate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dislocate.

Source: dislocate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.