hamstring

[ham-string] /ˈhæmˌstrɪŋ/

noun

(in humans and other primates) any of the tendons that bound the ham of the knee.

(in quadrupeds) the great tendon at the back of the hock.

verb (used with object), hamstrung, hamstringing.

to disable by cutting the hamstring or hamstrings; cripple.

to render powerless or useless; thwart:

Their efforts were hamstrung by stubborn pride.

Origin

1555-65; ham¹ + string

Examples from the web for hamstring

Physical therapy, especially quadriceps strengthening and hamstring stretching, may be helpful.
Something snapped in his physical resistance after months of uncertainty about an inflamed hamstring compounded by a foot injury.
Critics also claim that raising the capital gains rate would hamstring investment.
They also enhance flexibility in the hip and hamstring muscles, and in the tendons at the back of the thigh.
Lewis didn't play a full complement of snaps, likely due to his hamstring injury.
Grant, nagged by a hamstring injury since training camp, said he finally felt healthy.

British Dictionary definitions for hamstring

hamstring

/ˈhæmˌstrɪŋ/

noun

(anatomy) any of the tendons at the back of the knee related adjective popliteal

the large tendon at the back of the hock in the hind leg of a horse, etc

verb (transitive) -strings, -stringing, -strung

to cripple by cutting the hamstring of

to ruin or thwart

Word Origin

C16: ham1 + string

Word Origin and History for hamstring

1640s, "to disable, render useless," a figurative verbal extension from the noun hamstring "tendon at the back of the knee" (1560s), from ham "bend of the knee" (see ham (n.1)) + string. Cutting this would render a person or animal lame. Related: Hamstrung.

[I]n hamstring, -string is not the verb string; we do not string the ham, but do something to the tendon called the hamstring; the verb, that is, is made not from the two words ham & string, but from the noun hamstring. It must therefore make hamstringed. [Fowler]

hamstring in Medicine

hamstring ham·string (hām'strĭng')
n.

Any of the tendons at the rear hollow of the human knee.
hamstrings The hamstring muscle.
The large tendon in the back of the hind tarsal joint of the quadruped.

hamstring in Science

hamstring

(hām'strĭng')
A powerful group of muscles at the back of the thigh that arise in the hip and pelvis and insert as strong tendons behind the knee. The hamstring bends the knee and helps to straighten the hip.