trammel
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.
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.
to involve or hold in trammels; restrain.
to catch or entangle in or as in a net.
Origin of trammel
1Other words for trammel
Other words from trammel
- tram·mel·er; especially British, tram·mel·ler, noun
- un·tram·meled; especially British, un·tram·melled, adjective
Words Nearby trammel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
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 Rosetrammel, tram′el, n. a net used in fowling and fishing: shackles for making a horse amble: anything that confines.
There was no cult of seamanship, no dead wall of prejudice to trammel modern naval developments.
The Empire of the East | H. B. MontgomeryThe 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 MacaulayThat 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
/ (ˈtræməl) /
(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
to hinder or restrain
to catch or ensnare
to produce an accurate setting of (a machine adjustment), as with a trammel
Origin of trammel
1Derived forms of trammel
- trammeller or US trammeler, noun
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
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