Is column searchability dynamic?

I can set the searchable option on a column when I define it, but when I dynamically hide/show other columns, I'd like to also update the searchable value. I con't want my newly hidden columns to be searchable. Something like below:

applyColumnChanges = function (datatable) {
                var i,
                    hiddenColumns = [];

                for (i = 0; i < scope.columnDefinitions.length; i++) {
                    datatable.column(i).visible(scope.columnDefinitions[i].visible);
                    datatable.column(i).searchable = scope.columnDefinitions[i].visible; //would be nice if this worked
                    if (!scope.columnDefinitions[i].visible) {
                        hiddenColumns.push(scope.columnDefinitions[i].data);
                    }
                }
                return hiddenColumns;
            };

Any idea if this is currently possible?