Both Uses of
impair
in
To Kill a Mockingbird
- My left impaired, I sailed in with my right, but not for long.
p. 96.3impaired = less effective
- His speech was miraculously unimpaired by his cigar.
p. 222.5 *unimpaired = not made worsestandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unimpaired means not and reverses the meaning of impaired. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
Definition:
make worse or less effective