Sabotage is the act of secretly damaging, blocking, or ruining something, especially to weaken an enemy or protest against a system. It can be done to machines, plans, or even reputations.
From French *sabotage*, from *sabot* meaning 'wooden shoe' plus *-age*. One popular story says workers threw their wooden shoes into machines to break them, though historians debate this; more likely it referred to clumsy or deliberate bad work.
Try Another Word