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
McLaughlin said the decision was made to ensure immigration agents weren't hamstrung from doing their jobs.
—
Arthur Jones Ii, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Arthur Jones Ii, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for hamstring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hamstring
Verb
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Because her brother is paralyzed after an attack on a Charlotte Area Transit System bus in March.—
Andrew Dys,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Sep. 2025
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Congress does not fail to act on guns because it is paralyzed.—
John J. Donohue,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 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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Foreign powers such as Russia and China, which challenge America and its allies from Europe to the Middle East to Taiwan and the South China Sea, have long been accused of exploiting such divisions through disinformation campaigns that inflame tensions and weaken confidence in American governance.—
Amir Daftari,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
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But around the equinoxes, the natural buffer weakens.—
Daisy Dobrijevic,
Space.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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By setting up permissions in advance, the agent (individual with the power to act on behalf of someone else) can step in immediately if the account owner is incapacitated.—
Kristin McKenna,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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In addition to grandmaster status, Myers is also a fourth degree in hosinsool, a self-defense technique used to protect, disarm and incapacitate an attacker, focusing on practicality to end a dangerous situation quickly with powerful strikes, locks and take-downs.—
Nicole Stracek,
Twin Cities,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hamstring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hamstring. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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