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hogtie

American  
[hawg-tahy, hog-] / ˈhɔgˌtaɪ, ˈhɒg- /

verb (used with object)

hogtied, hogtying
  1. to tie (an animal) with all four feet together.

  2. to hamper or thwart.

    Repeated delays hogtied the investigation.


hogtie British  
/ ˈhɒɡˌtaɪ /

verb

  1. to tie together the legs or the arms and legs of

  2. to impede, hamper, or thwart

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of hogtie

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95; hog + tie


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:

Tuttle’s fearless inquisition won’t insult your intelligence, ask your mercy or hogtie your feelings.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2026

An enchanted Amazon truck magically supplies materials for our heroes’ needs, whether it’s to hogtie an adversary or stitch up a wound.

From New York Times ● Jan. 2, 2022

These were startling and stirring words, the kind that hogtie your attention.

From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2021

These larger tech companies could try to hogtie Clearview in the courts, but imitators would presumably show up to fill its place.

From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2020

“Wait till you see me rope and hogtie a steer.”

From Out of the Depths A Romance of Reclamation by George Brehm

By the time Gamsjaeger returned with the medicine, they’d put the hogtied horse into the back of a trailer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2022

It's an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, straight-jacketed in secrecy, and hogtied by red tape.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2022

“By the time we arrived, the parishioners had the subject hogtied and in custody,” Orange County Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.

From Washington Post ● May 15, 2022

The Ravens as a group, however, continued to be hogtied by zone-blocking in the trenches.

From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2012

A second cowboy rode up, roped the bull, and deftly hogtied it.

From Oh, You Tex! by William MacLeod Raine

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said it still allows hogtying but declined to comment on the bill.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2024

The state Attorney General’s Office in Washington recommended against using hogtying in its model use-of-force policy released in 2022.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2024

The San Diego doctors proposed a study, paid for in part by the county, that would measure the effects of hogtying in controlled laboratory conditions.

From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2021

A federal judge ruled in favor of the county, saying the study had shown the dangers of hogtying to be “fictitious.”

From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2021

Circuit Court of Appeals agreed – even though it had heard a case involving hogtying in Florida in 2009.

From Reuters ● May 8, 2020

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