as in to paralyze
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
the downtown development committee claims that it's hamstrung by city ordinances protecting historic buildings
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Recent Examples of hamstring
While Amazon sales may be enough to stay afloat, placing all its seasonings into one virtual storefront can hamstring a fledgling business in the long term.
—
Mara Weinraub, Bon Appetit Magazine, 17 Oct. 2025
In March, cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) disappeared the nearly $2 billion invested in the RECOVER (Researching Covid to Enhance Recovery) initiative, hamstringing research that might have yielded diagnostic tests or better treatments.
—Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2025
Another professor, Alma (Julia Roberts), is the first person Maggie speaks to about what happened, and Alma’s reaction sets up the film’s faceted examination of privilege, identity politics, and what goes on in a cloistered community hamstrung by its own mores.
—Marley Marius, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025
But Flacco was hamstrung by receivers who can't catch and an offensive line that rarely afforded him time.
—Jacob Robinson, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Mara Weinraub, Bon Appetit Magazine, 17 Oct. 2025
In March, cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) disappeared the nearly $2 billion invested in the RECOVER (Researching Covid to Enhance Recovery) initiative, hamstringing research that might have yielded diagnostic tests or better treatments.
—Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2025
Another professor, Alma (Julia Roberts), is the first person Maggie speaks to about what happened, and Alma’s reaction sets up the film’s faceted examination of privilege, identity politics, and what goes on in a cloistered community hamstrung by its own mores.
—Marley Marius, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025
But Flacco was hamstrung by receivers who can't catch and an offensive line that rarely afforded him time.
—Jacob Robinson, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hamstring
Verb
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At least a million monkeys died in the race to develop vaccines for polio, which had previously paralyzed thousands of children each year.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
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Their venom is typically used to paralyze their prey, but is not thought to have an effect on the human nervous system.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Despite possessing some of the world’s largest oil reserves, mismanagement and falling global prices have crippled the economy.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
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On December 7, 1941, 353 Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans and crippling much of the Pacific Fleet.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Nigeria’s Federal Revenue Service, whose boss Zacc Adedeji made the case for the tax, argued that local oil refineries are operating at cost levels that exceed those of fuel importers, a risk that could undermine the refining sector.—
Alexander Onukwue,
semafor.com,
30 Oct. 2025
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The resumption of nuclear weapons testing by the United States will undermine national security, arms control advocates told .—
Joshua Rhett Miller,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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At the same time, leaving grass too long over the winter can shade the soil and weaken the grass.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
31 Oct. 2025
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In addition to the GOP leaders, most rank-and-file Senate Republicans also oppose repealing the filibuster that’s been slowly weakened by both parties in recent decades for Executive Branch and judicial nominees.—
Ramsey Touchberry,
The Washington Examiner,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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He is accused of slipping incapacitating drugs into victims’ food or drinks before assaulting them between 2021 and 2024.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
16 Oct. 2025
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In still other situations, lapses in common knowledge can incapacitate people who really, really need to work together.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hamstring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hamstring. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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