stimy

[stahy-mee]

noun, plural sti·mies, verb (used with object), sti·mied, sti·my·ing.

stymie

or sty·my, sti·my

[stahy-mee]

noun

Golf. (on a putting green) an instance of a ball's lying on a direct line between the cup and the ball of an opponent about to putt.

a situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.

verb (used with object), sty·mied, sty·mie·ing.

to hinder, block, or thwart.

Origin of stymie

First recorded in 1855–60; origin uncertain

Synonyms for stymie

3. stump, mystify, frustrate, confound.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stimy

Historical Examples of stimy

But he was one up with four to play, and then I laid him a stimy.
Fifty Years of Golf
Horace G. Hutchinson
He laid me a stimy, with his ball so near the hole that the only chance was to pitch my own ball right into the hole.
Fifty Years of Golf
Horace G. Hutchinson

British Dictionary definitions for stimy

stymie

stymy

verb -mies, -mieing, -mied, -mies, -mying or -mied (tr; often passive)

to hinder or thwart

golf to impede with a stymie

noun plural -mies

golf (formerly) a situation on the green in which an opponent's ball is blocking the line between the hole and the ball about to be played: an obstructing ball may now be lifted and replaced by a marker

a situation of obstruction

Word Origin for stymie

C19: of uncertain origin

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

Word Origin and History for stimy

stymie

1834, (n.), "condition in which an opponent's golf ball blocks the hole," perhaps from Scottish stymie "person who sees poorly," from stime "the least bit" (c.1300), of uncertain origin (Icelandic cognate skima is attested from c.1685). The verb, in golf, is from 1857; general sense of "block, hinder, thwart" is from 1902.