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
The admission is just the latest bungle from New York’s beleaguered legal marijuana program, which has been hamstrung by legal challenges, a slow rollout and gaps in the law that allowed an illicit market to flourish.
—
Preston Fore, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2025
The Federal Communications Commission is hamstringing its upcoming review of broadband availability by ignoring the prices consumers must pay for Internet service, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said in a statement yesterday.
—Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2025
Information channels to the North run by Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have also been hamstrung by U.S. President Donald Trump’s aid funding cuts.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
The Hill’s Jared Gans reports that Democrats are hamstrung by their own recent push to use independent redistricting commissions, taking the issue out of the hands of state lawmakers.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Preston Fore, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2025
The Federal Communications Commission is hamstringing its upcoming review of broadband availability by ignoring the prices consumers must pay for Internet service, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said in a statement yesterday.
—Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2025
Information channels to the North run by Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have also been hamstrung by U.S. President Donald Trump’s aid funding cuts.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
The Hill’s Jared Gans reports that Democrats are hamstrung by their own recent push to use independent redistricting commissions, taking the issue out of the hands of state lawmakers.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hamstring
Verb
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Doctors spent several minutes resuscitating Luka before making the difficult decision to use a paralyzing agent to stop him from moving and potentially hurting himself.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Sep. 2025
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Without these supports, free-will can feel utterly paralyzing.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Tony and Ziva race to the scene, finding the place crippled by a power outage followed by a ransom request for 115 million Euros.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
4 Sep. 2025
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The last time active-duty military was sent to Chicago against the wishes of local officials was on July 4, 1894, according to the archives of the Chicago Tribune, when a labor dispute at a Pullman factory crippled the nation’s rail industry and resulted in days of rioting.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Now, its Supreme Court is moving to hold a former president accountable for allegedly trying to undermine democracy and steer the country back toward authoritarian rule.—
Júlia Dias Carneiro,
NPR,
11 Sep. 2025
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Failing to meet that obligation undermines not only educational opportunity, but also the sovereignty, economic vitality, and cultural survival of Tribal nations.—
Marybeth Gasman,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Israeli strikes severely weakened Hezbollah – culminating in the assassination of its revered leader, Hassan Nasrallah – and significantly curtailed the group’s domestic clout.—
Mostafa Salem,
CNN Money,
5 Sep. 2025
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Symptoms related to Listeria monocytogenes Listeria is especially harmful to people whose immune system is weakened or not fully developed but can also impact healthy individuals.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Justice Department in its June 2024 report on problems with policing in Phoenix found that police delayed medical assistance to people who appeared to be incapacitated as a result of the use of force by officers and used unreasonable force on people who had already been wounded by officers.—
Elena Santa Cruz,
AZCentral.com,
3 Sep. 2025
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To write one’s way out of the incapacitating dependence of daughterhood into autonomy means shedding the unquestioning fidelity of a child.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hamstring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hamstring. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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