Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Wedged together at the broken ends. Used of a fractured bone.
- adjective Placed in the alveolus in a manner prohibiting eruption into a normal position. Used of a tooth.
- adjective Wedged or packed in, so as to fill or block an organ or a passage.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Driven together or close.
- adjective (Dentistry) Grown in an abnormal direction so that it is wedged against another tooth and cannot erupt normally; -- of teeth, especially the third molar.
- adjective (Surg.) a fracture in which the fragments are driven into each other so as to be immovable.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb Simple past tense and past participle of
impact .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective wedged or packed in together
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Johnson may want to reconsider his use of the word "impacted".
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Johnson may want to reconsider his use of the word "impacted".
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Van Horn continued to smoke on while the sharp, needle-like spray of the rain impacted soothingly on his heated body.
CHAPTER IX 2010
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Van Horn continued to smoke on while the sharp, needle-like spray of the rain impacted soothingly on his heated body.
Chapter 9 1917
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Filter-feeding organisms, invertebrate worms, corals, sea fans - all of those were substantially impacted - and by impacted, I mean essentially killed....
Rocky Kistner: Dead Baby Dolphins and Oil Wash in on the Gulf Coast Rocky Kistner 2011
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Filter-feeding organisms, invertebrate worms, corals, sea fans - all of those were substantially impacted - and by impacted, I mean essentially killed....
Rocky Kistner: Dead Baby Dolphins and Oil Wash in on the Gulf Coast Rocky Kistner 2011
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His regard for the written word impacted Lee's sensibility as surely as his respect for the law.
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The interview kicks off with Linkov discussing the Toyota Prius being named the Best Green Car, addressing questions of how recalls impacted the choice.
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The interview kicks off with Linkov discussing the Toyota Prius being named the Best Green Car, addressing questions of how recalls impacted the choice.
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A barrage of robo calls impacted the closest races.
brtom commented on the word impacted
A personal peeve: this word is an adjective meaning "wedged or packed in together" ... It calls to mind unpleasant business related to teeth and bowels ... For that reason, it shouldn't be used as a verb in statements like: "Voters in South Carolina will definitely be impacted by what happened at the Iowa caucuses Thursday." source
My heart goes out to those soon-to-be-miserable South Carolinians.
January 6, 2008
sionnach commented on the word impacted
Hear! Hear! (note: not 'Here! Here!')
January 6, 2008
seanahan commented on the word impacted
The issue at hand is that the noun impact, as in "Have an impact" is being used as a verb, with impacted as the past tense. This is getting confused with impacted, the adjective, as in impacted bowel.
January 6, 2008
brtom commented on the word impacted
Yes, thanks, I explain that to my students. I've usually got no problem with verbing a noun ... so, I explain to them, I'll assume that's what they're doing. But, I also explain, the unintended connotations of this particular one are especially disagreeable to, at least, their teacher.
January 7, 2008