HAMSTRUNG
HAMSTRING
hamstring
(verb) cripple by cutting the hamstring
hamstring
(verb) make ineffective or powerless; “The teachers were hamstrung by the overly rigid schedules”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Adjective
hamstrung (comparative more hamstrung, superlative most hamstrung)
(figurative) Restricted as if by being crippled with a hamstring.
Verb
hamstrung
simple past tense and past participle of hamstring
Source: Wiktionary
HAMSTRING
Ham"string`, n. (Anat.)
Definition: One of the great tendons situated in each side of the ham, or
space back of the knee, and connected with the muscles of the back of
the thigh.
Ham"string`, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hamstrung; p. pr. & vb. n.
Hamstringing. See String.]
Definition: To lame or disable by cutting the tendons of the ham or knee;
to hough; hence, to cripple; to incapacitate; to disable.
So have they hamstrung the valor of the subject by seeking to
effeminate us all at home. Milton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition