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Golf was being played in Scotland as early as the 15th century, but it wasn't until the 19th century that the sport really caught on in England and North America. It was also in the 19th century that the word stymie entered English as a noun referring to a golfing situation in which one player's ball lies between another ball and the hole on the putting green, thereby blocking the line of play. Later, stymie came to be used as a verb meaning "to bring into the position of, or impede by, a stymie." By the early 20th century, the verb was being applied in similarly vexing non-golf contexts.
Examples of stymie in a Sentence
Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2025
There truly are people who want to identify them and post their names online, just as there are people who will share locations of ICE movements to stymie the agents.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 20 June 2025
Way back in 2018, the EU fined Google for using its Android operating system market share to stymie rivals by giving its own apps unfair advantage through pre-installation deals with mobile handset makers.
—Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 20 June 2025
After bombing the New York Yankees for 18 runs on Saturday, the Dodgers have been stymied by Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn, the latter holding them to three hits in five scoreless innings for the Mets on Monday night in his 2025 debut.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for stymie
Cite this Entry
“Stymie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stymie. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.
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stymie
verb
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