trammel

[ tram-uhl ]

/ ˈtræm əl /

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See synonyms for: trammel / trammels on Thesaurus.com

noun

Usually trammels . a hindrance or impediment to free action; restraint: the trammels of custom.

an instrument for drawing ellipses.

Also called tram . a device used to align or adjust parts of a machine.

trammel net.

a fowling net.

a contrivance hung in a fireplace to support pots or kettles over the fire.

a fetter or shackle, especially one used in training a horse to amble.

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR trammel

1 drag, curb, hobble, inhibition.

8 hinder, impede, obstruct, encumber.

See synonyms for trammel on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of trammel

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English tramayle, from Middle French tramail, variant of tremail “three-mesh net,” from Late Latin trēmaculum, equivalent to Latin trē(s) “three” + macula “mesh”; see also three

OTHER WORDS FROM trammel

tram·mel·er; especially British, tram·mel·ler, nounun·tram·meled; especially British, un·tram·melled, adjective

Words nearby trammel

tram, trama, tramadol, TRAM flap, tramline, trammel, trammel net, trammie, tramontana, tramontane, tramp

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use trammel in a sentence

The most correct method of drawing an ellipse is by means of an instrument termed a trammel, which is shown in Figure 83.
Mechanical Drawing Self-Taught|Joshua Rose
Trammel, tram′el, n. a net used in fowling and fishing: shackles for making a horse amble: anything that confines.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
There was no cult of seamanship, no dead wall of prejudice to trammel modern naval developments.
The Empire of the East|H. B. Montgomery
The coronation oath, they said, was never intended to trammel him in his legislative capacity.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.|Thomas Babington Macaulay

That which is progress to-day, may it not one hundred years hence have become mere routine, and a downright trammel?
Monsieur de Camors, Complete|Octave Feuillet

British Dictionary definitions for trammel

trammel

/ (ˈtræməl) /

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 forms of trammel

trammeller 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

trammel

OTHER WORDS FOR trammel

Origin of trammel

OTHER WORDS FROM trammel

Words nearby trammel

Words related to trammel

How to use trammel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for trammel

Derived forms of trammel

Word Origin for trammel