hamper
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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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
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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
-
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
-
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:
Sanctions severely hamper individuals' abilities to carry out even routine financial transactions as any banks with ties to the US, or that conduct transactions in dollars, are expected to have to comply with the restrictions.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Adding to those anxieties is an intensifying conflict in the Middle East that is lifting oil prices and threatening to hamper the global economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Paramount has said the deal will boost competition — not hamper it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
The latest controversy involving Tesla’s technology could hamper its plans for expansion.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
I was in charge of the picnic hamper, and it took all I had to lift it.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
The skills deficit hampers new grads as they are trying to launch themselves, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
A Hormuz bottleneck has taken its toll on global oil supply and snarled supply chains, while the targeting of energy infrastructure last week hampers energy production capacity.
From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026
While this system works like crazy for rappers in France or Brazil, who are now all over the charts in their homelands, it potentially hampers artists in the U.K.,
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
She added that hampers of food are given to all service users, "so that they feel wanted and they feel appreciated".
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2025
Many people carried blankets and hampers of food but quickly found that no room remained to spread a picnic.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
This is the stench that hampered Hong’s campaign.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
The aging grid has also hampered the new solar parks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
A foot injury severely hampered her pre-season training before she spent two and a half months off court with a post-viral illness after initially falling unwell in early February.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Executives later said the prolonged legal battle hampered the company’s ability to compete, particularly as streaming rivals accelerated their investments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Jonn's every move was hampered by the tunnel walls that gripped him.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
Firefighters launched a potentially decisive push Tuesday to encircle Belgium's largest wildfire in a century, despite wind and rain hampering air support operations over the High Fens nature reserve.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
But a growing number of fans say a crackdown on bootlegged merchandise is hampering that spirit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 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
Mr. Montefiore says the West’s “self-regarding secularism,” is hampering our understanding of the Middle East.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
With the hampering help of my sisters I made the little doghouse.
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
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.
