How to Use able-bodied in a Sentence

able-bodied

adjective
  • The younger and able-bodied men slept in cars parked outside.
    — Adam Rasgon, The New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2023
  • A day at the track is not limited to the able-bodied anymore.
    — Sami Haj-Assaad, Car and Driver, 5 June 2023
  • These are able-bodied people, who otherwise could use their hands.
    — Serena Dai, Bon Appétit, 21 Mar. 2023
  • Now, the Englishman is looking to make his mark in the sport’s able-bodied realm.
    — Alexandra Banner, CNN, 10 Dec. 2024
  • Perhaps there was a time when the assumption that able-bodied young men would always be in the workforce made sense.
    — Jens Ludwig, CNN, 16 Feb. 2023
  • This means that an able-bodied adult must apply themselves for 20 hours a week, or for four hours per day, five days a week.
    — Victoria Ivie, Oc Register, 30 July 2025
  • Absent changes, many able-bodied adults will remain jobless, which is bad for them and our economy.
    — Adam A. Millsap, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
  • Now, middle-aged and still able-bodied, many are making a reverse migration.
    — Miriam Jordan, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2023
  • With all the men at the front, able-bodied women were conscripted to go to the forests in summer to collect wood for fuel.
    — Alan Philps, Town & Country, 5 July 2023
  • As with Leyva's great-grandmother, many were enslaved not as able-bodied adults but as children.
    — Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2025
  • The time limit for able-bodied adults was waived across the country by a law passed at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
    — Grace Segers, The New Republic, 6 Apr. 2023
  • Between all that effort, service dogs fit into the life of their person in a way that many able-bodied dog owners want their pets to fit into theirs.
    — Brian Hare, The Atlantic, 14 Oct. 2024
  • All able-bodied men aged 18 to 35 in South Korea must serve in the military.
    — Armani Syed, TIME, 7 Aug. 2024
  • So the Kremlin has been seeking out ways to encourage able-bodied people to come to Russia.
    — Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Mar. 2025
  • The bill raises the age limit for able-bodied adults without dependents from 54 to 64.
    — Lisa Hagen, Hartford Courant, 4 July 2025
  • The emotional wounds of a trans or disabled Latina are going to be different than someone who is able-bodied.
    — Roxsy Lin, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2023
  • Smith uses the analogy of a shovel—which increased the power of able-bodied workers—versus a steam shovel—which did the work for them.
    — Alan Murray, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2023
  • In South Korea, all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 28 are required to serve for two years.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 5 Dec. 2023
  • And being front of the camera, say as an actor or a model, was a career once mostly closed for those who didn't appear perfectly able-bodied.
    — Alan Schwarz, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
  • The first step in such service is to enlist as many able-bodied adults as possible to begin ferrying slices and ice cream as quickly as they can be plated.
    — Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024
  • In the 1930s millions of able-bodied Americans were thrown out of work and onto breadlines through no fault of their own.
    — Naomi Oreskes, Scientific American, 25 Apr. 2023
  • Part of the challenge in para-athletics is finding a way to modify a sport to an athlete whereas an able-bodied competitor conforms to the sport.
    — Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 3 Oct. 2024
  • Trump’s big bill, which is now law, requires able-bodied adults to work 80 hours per month to qualify for Medicaid benefits.
    — Lawrence Andrea, jsonline.com, 9 July 2025
  • The agreement would raise the age for existing work requirements on able-bodied adults, from 49 to 54, without children.
    — Arkansas Online, 28 May 2023
  • Without a waiver, able-bodied adults would have to work at least 20 hours a week or spend the equivalent amount of time in a workforce development program.
    — Christen Smith | The Center Square, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 28 Sep. 2024
  • All able-bodied men in Korea are required to perform 18-21 months of military service.
    — Patrick Frater, Variety, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Hundreds of thousands were added to the Medicaid rolls when Steve Beshear expanded the program to cover able-bodied adults.
    — Fox News, 19 Apr. 2023
  • The changes to the Healthy Indiana Plan include a 36-month cap for able-bodied, childless adults, Mishler said.
    — Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Wheelchair Tennis Wheelchair tennis pretty much follows the same rules of able-bodied tennis, except here the ball can bounce twice before the player hits it back.
    — Molly Higgins, WIRED, 19 Aug. 2024
  • Military service is mandatory in South Korea, with all able-bodied men expected to serve in the army for 18 months by the age of 28.
    — Hafsa Khalil, CNN, 22 Sep. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'able-bodied.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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