Hamstring

How to spell hamstring

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce hamstring

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hamstring mean?

1. nounAny of the tendons or muscles at the back of the thigh and knee.
2. verbTo severely restrict or disable the effectiveness of someone or something.

Hamstring in a sentence

• noun

  The sprinter pulled a hamstring during the final lap.

• verb

  Budget cuts can hamstring even the most ambitious project.

• noun

  A tight hamstring can make it painful to touch your toes.

• verb

  Strict rules tend to hamstring the creative side of the team.

Where does hamstring come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English compound, built from two Old English elements. The first part, ham, comes from Old English hamm, which named the hollow or bend at the back of the knee, while string descends from Old English streng, a cord or line. Put together, the word literally meant the cordlike tendon running behind the knee, the very part that lets the leg bend. By the late 1500s people had turned the noun into a verb, because cutting that tendon, on a person or a horse, instantly crippled the leg, and from there the figurative sense of crippling or disabling any effort developed. The ham here has nothing to do with cured pork, although the meat word shares the same ancient root referring to the thigh, which is a handy memory hook for the silent logic of the spelling.

How the word is built

• ham (Old English hamm: the bend or back of the knee)
• string (cord, tendon)