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trammel

[tram-uhl]
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noun

verb (used with object), tram·meled, tram·mel·ing or (especially British) tram·melled, tram·mel·ling.

to involve or hold in trammels; restrain.
to catch or entangle in or as in a net.

Origin of trammel

1325–75; Middle English tramayle < Middle French tramail, variant of tremail three-mesh net < Late Latin trēmaculum, equivalent to Latin trē(s) three + macula mesh
Related formstram·mel·er; especially British, tram·mel·ler, nounun·tram·meled, adjectiveun·tram·melled, adjective

Synonyms for trammel

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1. drag, hobble, curb, inhibition. 8. hinder, impede, obstruct, encumber.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for trammel

obstruct, cramp, clog, fetter, restrict, handcuff, curb, thwart, tether, check, manacle, shackle, restrain, tie, disrupt, hinder, frustrate, impede, hobble, hamstring

Examples from the Web for trammel

Historical Examples of trammel

British Dictionary definitions for trammel

trammel

noun

(often plural) a hindrance to free action or movement
Also called: trammel net a fishing net in three sections, the two outer nets having a large mesh and the middle one a fine mesh
rare a fowling net
US a fetter or shackle, esp one used in teaching a horse to amble
a device for drawing ellipses consisting of a flat sheet of metal, plastic, or wood having a cruciform slot in which run two pegs attached to a beam. The free end of the beam describes an ellipse
(sometimes plural) another name for beam compass
Also called: tram a gauge for setting up machines correctly
a device set in a fireplace to support cooking pots

verb -els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled (tr)

to hinder or restrain
to catch or ensnare
to produce an accurate setting of (a machine adjustment), as with a trammel
Derived Formstrammeller or US trammeler, noun

Word Origin for trammel

C14: from Old French tramail three-mesh net, from Late Latin trēmaculum, from Latin trēs three + macula hole, mesh in a net
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 trammel
n.

mid-14c. (implied in trammeller) "net to catch fish," from Middle French tramail, from Old French (early 13c.), from Late Latin tremaculum, perhaps meaning "a net made from three layers of meshes," from Latin tri- "three" + macula "a mesh" (see mail (2)). Italian tramaglio, Spanish trasmallo are French loan-words.

v.

1530s, originally "to bind up (a corpse);" sense of "hinder, restrain" is from 1727, from trammel (n.). Related: Trammeled; trammeling.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper