English

Adjective

out of commission ‎(not comparable)

1. Not operational or not functioning properly.
   • 1906, Mary Roberts Rinehart, The Man in Lower Ten, ch. 19,

     One pair of handcuffs will put both hands out of commission.

   • 2008, Scot Lehigh, "Making (no) sense of police details," Boston Globe, 2 Jul.,

     A traffic light was out of commission, leaving motorists to sort their way through an occasionally busy intersection.

Usage notes

• Sometimes used in the expression "to put out of commission," meaning "to make inoperative."

Synonyms

• broken
• out of order
• out of service
• bollocksed