hamper
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
hampers,
present (3rd person singular)
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hampered,
past participle, past
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hampering
present participle
noun
noun
-
a large basket or wickerwork receptacle, usually with a cover.
picnic hamper;
clothes hamper.
-
British. such a basket together with its contents, especially food.
noun
-
a large basket, usually with a cover
-
such a basket and its contents, usually food
-
a laundry basket
verb
noun
Usage
What does hamper mean? To hamper means to hold back or impede something or someone, as in The road crew hampered traffic, causing a line of cars that went back for miles. Figuratively, hamper can mean to interfere with or diminish, as in The singers practicing in the next room really hampered my ability to study. Related to this in nautical terms, a hamper is gear that is necessary but gets in the way. There is another sense of the noun hamper that comes from a different origin. This hamper is a large basket, often made of wicker (or something that looks like wicker) and having a cover. Most often, this type of hamper is associated with dirty clothes (a laundry or clothes hamper), but there are lots of things a hamper can hold, like a picnic lunch or small toys. Example: I hope this rain doesn’t end up hampering the party at all.
Synonym Usage
See prevent.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hampersimple
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hamperssimple
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have hamperedperfect
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has hamperedperfect
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am hamperingprogressive
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are hamperingprogressive
-
is hamperingprogressive
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have been hamperingperfect progressive
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has been hamperingperfect progressive
Past
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hamperedsimple
-
had hamperedperfect
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was hamperingprogressive
-
were hamperingprogressive
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had been hamperingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hamper1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English hampren; akin to Old English hamm “enclosure,” hemm hem 1
Origin of hamper2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English hampere, variant of hanypere hanaper
Explanation
Anything that hampers slows progress or makes it difficult to do something. You might think that the presence of your parents hampers your ability to look cool. The verb hamper is for those times when normal progress is slow but not shut down completely. Hamper often describes travel during bad weather, like icy conditions that could hamper holiday travel. Hamper means "slow going." You may have heard of noun form of hamper, a container for holding dirty laundry: If your hamper is full, the need to do laundry could hamper your plans of going out and having fun.
Vocabulary lists containing hamper
Where the Red Fern Grows
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The Week in Words: March 24 - 30, 2018
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Wit, Wisdom, AND Vocabulary from Those We Lost in 2015
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Western disapproval isn’t going to hamper an organization this large and potent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
OpenAI filed a legal response asserting that Apple filed a baseless trade secret theft lawsuit to hamper OpenAI’s recruiting and stall its AI work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Tesla is recalling nearly three million cars in China with interior door handles that could hamper a person's ability to exit their vehicle in an emergency, Beijing's national market watchdog said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Another intense heatwave on Tuesday could further hamper firefighting efforts.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
If only that blasted farmer had left our food hamper!
From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson
It also stressed the need for greater transparency around how social media works as "opaque algorithms and content moderation hampers the ability of young users to understand why certain content is recommended, suppressed or removed".
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
The skills deficit hampers new grads as they are trying to launch themselves, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
"It's been overwhelming, we've had no end of messages, gifts, flowers, hampers," her mum said.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
At 2.25%, the main rate sits at the low end of the central bank’s estimate for neutral, or the level at which policy neither stimulates nor hampers growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
A train of mules trailed behind them, carrying chests and ~ casks and barrels, and hampers of delectables to keep the lord of cheese from growing peckish.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
And a home debut hampered by an early red card.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
While some Middle Eastern crude cargos are able to transit the Strait of Hormuz, fuel production has been hampered by the recent attacks on the region’s infrastructure.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Fiske is at full strength after being hampered last season by a knee injury sustained at the end of his rookie year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Gap said its most recent quarterly sales fell, hampered by performance at its Old Navy and Athleta brands, even as its flagship Gap brand did well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
It’s doing a lot for my hampered proprioception.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
Guam passed laws this year banning deep-sea mining vessels from calling at its ports, potentially hampering the industry by cutting off a crucial source of fuel and supplies.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
In recent days, wind gusts reaching 80 kilometres per hour had grounded aircraft for safety reasons, hampering firefighting efforts.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
Despite firefighting efforts, strong winds are fanning flames and hampering containment operations - with local media reporting that firefighting aircraft have been unable to fly on Thursday morning.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
The world’s leading AI labs are grappling with how to prevent or mitigate damage by malevolent users without hampering well-intentioned research queries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
To the west, the Demeter cabin and Grovers nature spirits had turned Sixth Avenue into a jungle that was hampering a squadron of Kronos s demigods.
From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
