hamstring

verb

Definition of hamstringnext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hamstring Even those items that can be produced will be hamstrung by constraints to global trade. — Tristan Bove, Fortune, 17 June 2026 For example, states would often impose tariffs on each other’s goods, even if those goods were moving only from Virginia to Maryland and vice versa, thereby inhibiting the development of a national market and hamstringing internal trade. — Jordan Cash, The Conversation, 8 June 2026 Rian is similarly hamstrung by inarticulacy and masculine angst, but his storyline feels the least convincing, as if fashioned only to prove money can’t buy happiness, even if Cole convincingly suggests unspoken depths. — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026 But Chicago was ultimately hamstrung by the team’s lack of 3-point shooting and faltering defensive effort. — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 21 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hamstring
  1. paralyze
  2. cripple
  3. undermine
  4. weaken
  5. incapacitate
Verb
  • Once injected with venom, the prey is paralyzed and drained of bodily fluids.
    — Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 July 2026
  • The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine and even some parts of Canada from March 12 to March 14.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 4 July 2026
Definition of paralyze
Verb
  • Russia has been doing this since the start of the war, terrorizing Ukrainian cities with aerial assaults that have killed thousands of civilians and crippled much of the country’s energy grid for months on end.
    — Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 15 July 2026
  • Washington denounces Cuba’s overseas medical missions as exploitative and presses allies to drop them, but Calabria’s governor says losing the doctors would cripple care and vows to keep them.
    — Paolo Santalucia, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
Definition of cripple
Verb
  • The Administration has already undermined the agreement in many ways, experts tell TIME, citing the discord in February, when the bloc had to freeze the implementation of the agreement after Trump made additional tariff threats.
    — Tiago Ventura, Time, 9 July 2026
  • Immigration enforcement practices that result in family separation, detention, workplace raids, and widespread fear undermine human dignity and weaken the social fabric of our communities.
    — Killingly-Brooklyn Interfaith Council, Hartford Courant, 9 July 2026
Definition of undermine
Verb
  • The flow of dark traffic is one of the factors that helped explain why oil markets had weakened significantly by early June, together with a surge in exports from the US and pullback in buying by China.
    — Weilun Soon, Fortune, 5 July 2026
  • But as several surveys have consistently indicated, optimism about our country's outlook has undeniably weakened.
    — Robert Hormats, Time, 4 July 2026
Definition of weaken
Verb
  • Last August, Parithad was catapulted into the position of CEO, after a court deemed Chuchat legally incapacitated.
    — Angelica Ang, Fortune, 13 July 2026
  • The driver hits Leatherface in the head with a wrench, incapacitating him long enough for the driver to run away and Sally to jump into the cab of a passing pickup truck.
    — Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 July 2026
Definition of incapacitate

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hams
hamstring
hamstringing
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Cite this Entry

“Hamstring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hamstring. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of hamstring for Spanish Speakers

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