hamstringing
Cutting leg tendons
Hamstringing is the present participle of hamstring, a verb meaning to cripple or disable by cutting the hamstring tendons at the back of the knee.
This was historically done to prisoners or animals to prevent escape.
The figurative sense is far more common today: to hamstring someone or something is to severely limit their effectiveness or ability to act.
Budget cuts have been hamstringing the department for years.
The new regulations are hamstringing small businesses.
Weakening by covert means
- cripplingCausing severe impairment
- disablingCausing loss of function
- obstructionSomething blocking the way
- impairmentDiminished function or capacity
hindering · thwarting · weakening · incapacitating · interference · subversion · destabilization · compromise
Deliberate infliction of suffering
- mutilationDamaging a body severely
- punishmentPenalty for an offense
- immobilizationPreventing movement entirely
- captiveOne held by force
prisoner · warfare · cruelty · medieval · incapacitation · subjugation · brutality
To pull apart
- strainExcessive stretching force
- pullForce toward oneself
- ruptureViolent tearing apart
- tendonitisInflamed tissue connecting muscle
rehabilitation · physical therapy · recovery · muscle damage · sprain · swelling · pain · inflammation
undermining
Weakening by covert means
- cripplingCausing severe impairment
- disablingCausing loss of function
- obstructionSomething blocking the way
impairment · hindering · thwarting · weakening · incapacitating · interference · subversion · destabilization · compromise · encumbrance
torture
Deliberate infliction of suffering
- mutilationDamaging a body severely
- punishmentPenalty for an offense
- immobilizationPreventing movement entirely
captive · prisoner · warfare · cruelty · medieval · incapacitation · subjugation · brutality
tear
To pull apart
tendonitis · rehabilitation · physical therapy · recovery · muscle damage · sprain · swelling · pain · inflammation · rest
- Ancient Punishmentsamputation, blinding, castration
- restrainingconstraining, restricting, limiting, confining, curbing
- bodily harmhurt, injure, wound, harm, injuries
- punishmentsjail, prison, timeout, grounded, fine
hamstringingempowering
Giving authority or confidence
enabling · strengthening · enhancing · bolstering · fortifying
hamstringingliberating
Setting free from constraint
freeing · unleashing · unshackling · unfettering · emancipating
hamstringingfacilitating
Making something simpler
aiding · assisting · supporting · helping · advancing