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injure

/ˈɪndʒər//ˈɪndʒə/·verb
to harm or wound a living body — or a feeling or reputation
Fig. 1 — Someone is walking along in front of me, easy and even, one stride after another.
01Definition

To injure is to do physical harm: to wound, hurt, or damage a body so that it no longer works as it should. A fall can injure a knee; a blast can injure dozens. The word also reaches beyond the body to pride, feelings, and reputation — an 'injured party' has been wronged, an 'injured look' shows hurt feelings. What unites the uses is a sudden harm done to something that was whole, leaving it damaged and in need of repair.

02In use
  • iA single bad landing can injure a dancer badly enough to impede an entire season.
  • iiEven resilient athletes need months to recover once they injure a major joint.
  • iiiHis careless remark seemed designed to injure rather than to inform.
03Collocations
  • seriously injure
  • injure yourself
  • injure a knee
  • an injured party
  • an injured look

Family injury (noun) · injured (adjective) · injurious (adjective)

04Relations

=wound, hurt, harm, damage, maim

≠heal, cure, soothe

06TOEFL & IELTS

Common in TOEFL/IELTS texts on sport, accidents, and health. 'Injure' takes a body or a person as its object (injure your back); the noun injury and adjective injured are even more frequent. For feelings, 'injured pride' is a useful collocation. Distinguish degrees: injure (general) versus the heavier 'maim' or 'cripple'.

07Asked
What is the difference between injure, wound, and hurt?
Hurt is the broadest and can be minor or emotional ('my arm hurts', 'you hurt me'). Injure is to damage a body so it stops working properly, usually by accident ('injured his knee'). Wound is specifically to pierce or tear flesh, often deliberately, as by a weapon ('wounded in battle'). Hurt feels; injure damages; wound cuts.
What is the difference between injured and wounded?
Injured is general — harmed in any way, most often by accident (an injured passenger, an injured ankle). Wounded implies a deliberate act and torn flesh, especially in violence or war (a wounded soldier). You would say 'injured in a car crash' but 'wounded by gunfire'. The cause and the intent are what separate them.
What is the difference between 'injure' and 'injury'?
Injure is the verb — the action of harming ('the fall could injure you'). Injury is the noun — the harm itself ('a serious injury'). Learners often reach for one where the other is needed: you injure your back, and the result is a back injury. Add -d for the adjective: an injured player.
What does 'injurious' mean?
Harmful — causing or likely to cause injury or damage. It is formal and appears mainly in fixed phrases like 'injurious to health' or 'injurious to one's reputation'. In everyday English 'harmful' or 'damaging' is more natural, but injurious carries a legal and clinical weight that makes it useful in careful writing.
Can 'injure' apply to feelings, not just the body?
Yes — it reaches beyond the body to pride, feelings, and reputation. An 'injured party' has been wronged; an 'injured look' shows hurt feelings; an insult can injure someone's pride. The scene above is the physical sense, a runner who catches a rock and clutches a knee — but the word's harm-to-something-whole idea carries over to the emotional.
What is the difference between injure and harm or damage?
Injure is for living bodies — you injure a person, an animal, a limb. Harm is broader and often abstract ('harm the economy', 'harm your chances'). Damage is mainly for things and property ('damage the car', 'damage a reputation'). You damage objects, harm interests, and injure the living.