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
Qatar, the world's second-largest supplier which owns part of the world's largest gas field, has seen its export capacity hamstrung by Iranian strikes.
—
Kai Nicol-Schwarz,
CNBC,
19 May 2026
While Oklahoma City deployed its 10th or 11th men at times, Redick stuck to eight- or nine-man rotations, hamstrung by inefficiencies across the bottom half of the roster.
—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
13 May 2026
Democrats in control of the legislature warn that would hamstring other state priorities, like education and healthcare, by sapping money from the general fund.
—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
13 May 2026
Assayas is a great filmmaker, but seems hamstrung by this being a film, not a series.
—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Kai Nicol-Schwarz,
CNBC,
19 May 2026
While Oklahoma City deployed its 10th or 11th men at times, Redick stuck to eight- or nine-man rotations, hamstrung by inefficiencies across the bottom half of the roster.
—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
13 May 2026
Democrats in control of the legislature warn that would hamstring other state priorities, like education and healthcare, by sapping money from the general fund.
—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
13 May 2026
Assayas is a great filmmaker, but seems hamstrung by this being a film, not a series.
—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hamstring
Verb
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Barricades erected on key roads have effectively isolated the city of La Paz, triggering fuel and food shortages, paralyzing transportation and preventing patients from reaching hospitals — causing at least seven deaths for lack of medical attention, the government says.
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Barricades erected on key roads have essentially isolated the city of La Paz, Bolivia’s seat of government, triggering fuel and food shortages, paralyzing transportation and preventing patients from reaching hospitals.
Verb
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Attacking and denying a nation’s assets in space can cripple the effective use of weapons on the ground.
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The move on Monday marks the most sweeping rollback of American oil sanctions against Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reversing years of pressure designed to cripple Iran's economy, and is expected to deliver billions in oil revenue for the Iranian regime.
Verb
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Kirk had disappeared from their feeds, and Erika Kirk had gone viral for the wrong reasons—taking the stage at her husband’s memorial service amid pyrotechnics and attempting her own campus tour, undermining her image as a Christian trad wife whose priorities were her family and her home.
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Over his 18-year tenure at the Fed, Greenspan embodied the omnipotent technocrat — a legacy critics say was fatally undermined by his failure to spot the 2008 housing bubble.
Verb
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Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s consumer spending slowdown persisted in June, with growth during one of the country’s largest online shopping festivals weakening sharply from a year earlier.
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All three of those protagonists have been weakened in their roles by what has gone on.
Verb
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Airbus UpNext's DragonFly project is developing AI that manages complex emergencies autonomously when the crew is incapacitated.
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According to the law enforcement investigation, Garcia activated her Taser seven times in a row in about a minute, with the State Patrol concluding that three to four of those activations occurred after Tomlinson was already incapacitated by the initial Taser deployments.
Cite this Entry
“Hamstring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hamstring. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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