out of commission

English

Prepositional phrase

out of commission

1. Not operational; not functioning properly.

   Synonyms: broken, out of order, out of service; see also Thesaurus:out of order

   • 1909, Mary Roberts Rinehart, “At the Table Next”, in The Man in Lower Ten, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC, page 200:

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

   • 1962 June, “Diesel economy analysed—a postscript”, in Modern Railways, page 422:

     At the same time, the valves, pistons, motion and brakegear plus ancillary equipment is overhauled, putting the locomotive out of commission for about 26 to 30 days.

   • 2008 July 2, Scot Lehigh, “Making (no) sense of police details”, in Boston Globe:

     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."