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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hamstring
The Fed has been hamstrung in assessing economic progress during the recent shutdown as all data collection and releases have been suspended.
—
Christina Cheddar Berk, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2025
So with 85 percent of the global atmosphere not being regularly probed, current forecasts are hamstrung by the sparseness of the datasets available to them.
—IEEE Spectrum, 20 Oct. 2025
Independent inspectors are hamstrung by factory bosses, according to government officials.
—Ladan Anoushfar, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Christina Cheddar Berk, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2025
So with 85 percent of the global atmosphere not being regularly probed, current forecasts are hamstrung by the sparseness of the datasets available to them.
—IEEE Spectrum, 20 Oct. 2025
Independent inspectors are hamstrung by factory bosses, according to government officials.
—Ladan Anoushfar, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hamstring
Verb
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But in southern states like Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas, even 1 to 3 inches can paralyze roads.—
Sirena Bergman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
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In May 2021, one of the largest fuel pipeline systems in the United States was paralyzed when a cyberattack brought operations to an abrupt halt.—
Charlotte Reck,
CNN Money,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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At the time, the blockades crippled transportation routes and hospital services and prompted international warnings about a humanitarian crisis in the country, which was reeling from a devastating earthquake.—
MUHIB RAHMAN,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Nov. 2025
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Since then, they've been forced to work remotely — at a time when the government was doling out return-to-office mandates — preventing access to labs and crippling the center's mission of embedding NASA climate scientists within international academia.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Adopting the Southern view, the Supreme Court issued opinions that severely undermined the legal architecture of Reconstruction.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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Others tell us that AI will completely undermine society.—
David Lyman,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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With some estimates putting wave heights as much as 35 feet, weakened hatch covers would have been vulnerable to such waves.—
Stephen J. Beard,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
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The years of horrific violence have weakened Sudan, plunging its institutions into chaos and making its population more vulnerable and poorer.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 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 12 Nov. 2025.
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