in´jur|er

in|jure «IHN juhr», transitive verb, -jured, -jur|ing.

1. to do damage to; harm; hurt: »

Do not break or injure the bushes in the park. The misunderstanding injured their friendship.

2. to be unfair to; do wrong to: »

Those that are not favoured will think themselves injured (Samuel Johnson).

╂[back formation < injury]

–in´jur|a|ble, adjective.

–in´jur|er, noun.

Synonym Study 1 Injure, hurt, impair mean to do harm or damage to someone or something. Injure implies any sort of damage, large or small: »

Dishonesty injures a business.

Hurt, a less formal substitute for injure, particularly means to cause physical injury or bodily or mental pain to a person or animal: »

He hurt my hand by twisting it.

Impair means to injure by weakening strength or value gradually in ways that cannot be remedied: »

Poor eating habits impair health.