hames

British  

/ heɪmz /

noun

1. informal to spoil through clumsiness or ineptitude

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Etymology

Origin of hames

of unknown origin

Example Sentences

Sometimes, mounted on the sawhorse in the harness-room, with collars and hames and tugs hung all about him, Jody rode out beyond the room.

From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck

The girl, whose thoughts obviously were not on what she was doing, obeyed immediately, and without replying looped up the heavy traces, throwing and tying the lines over the hames with experienced hands.

From The Fighting Shepherdess by Lockhart, Caroline

Also, with the collar in position, he was but a moment in adjusting the hames, making fast the bottom strap, and hooking the tugs securely.

From Bred of the Desert A Horse and a Romance by Horton, Marcus

Formerly the leading traces in tandem drew direct from tugs on the wheeler’s hames, or less frequently from the stops on the shafts.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 7 "Drama" to "Dublin" by Various

The curved pieces of wood in the harness of a draught-horse, called the hames, to which the traces are fastened, could be found in twisted growths, as could also portions of ox-yokes.

From Home Life in Colonial Days by Earle, Alice Morse