- "I lived in a world of secrets. Of sabotage and deceit". - Luther Sloan
Sabotage is the intentional destruction or damaging of a device to slow ones opponent.
The word Sabotage comes from 19th century France, when workers who felt their jobs were being threatened by machines, flung their wooden shoes, called Sabots (pronounced "Sa-BOE") into the gears to stop them. Lieutenant Valeris reminded the senior staff of the Enterprise of this story in 2293. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
The Klingon exobiologist J'Dan was accused of sabotaging the dilithium chamber of the USS Enterprise-D resulting in an explosion. It was later revealed that it was rather an accident and not an act of sabotage. (TNG: "The Drumhead")
While the Cardassians were withdrawing from Bajor after the occupation's end, Cardassians on board Terok Nor sabotaged and booby trapped the station, as part of standard military procedure when abandoning an outpost. (DS9: "Emissary")
In order to make it appear that the Founders were a greater threat to Earth that they were, Admiral Leyton had Red Squad sabotage the global power grid, plunging Earth into a blackout. (DS9: "Homefront", "Paradise Lost")
During the Battle of Cardassia, the civillians on Cardassia Prime sabotaged the planet's communications, transportation and power systems, causing a planet-wide blackout. This disabled the Female Changeling's ability to command the Dominion ships during the battle. The disarray caused by this allowed the allies to defeat the Dominion and Breen fleets and force them to retreat. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")