trammel
Plural: trammels
Noun
- a fishing net with three layers; the outer two are coarse mesh and the loose inner layer is fine mesh
- an adjustable pothook set in a fireplace
- a restraint that is used to teach a horse to amble
- a restraint that confines or restricts freedom (especially something used to tie down or restrain a prisoner)
- Whatever impedes activity, progress, or freedom, such as a net or shackle.
- A fishing net that has large mesh at the edges and smaller mesh in the middle
- A kind of net for catching birds, fishes, or other prey.
- A vertical bar with several notches or chain of rings suspended over a fire, used to hang cooking pots by a hook which has an easily adjustable height.
- Braids or plaits of hair.
- A kind of shackle used for regulating the motions of a horse and making it amble.
- An instrument for drawing ellipses, one part of which consists of a cross with two grooves at right angles to each other, the other being a beam carrying two pins (which slide in those grooves), and also the describing pencil.
- A beam compass.
Verb
Verb Forms: trammeled, trammeling, trammels, trammelled, trammelling
- To restrict freedom of movement or action; to hinder.
- catch in or as if in a trap
- place limits on (extent or access)
- To entangle, as in a net.
- To confine; to hamper; to shackle.
Examples
- A well-placed block can TRAMMEL your opponent’s ability to score big in Words With Friends.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English trameyle, from Old French tramail (“net for catching fish”), from Late Latin tremaculum, from tri- (“tri-”) + macula (“spot, speck; mesh, cell”). Cognate with Italian tramaglio (“trammel”), Spanish trasmallo (“drift net”).
Synonyms
bond, bound, confine, ensnare, entrap, hamper, limit, restrain, restrict, shackle, snare, throttle, trammel net, trap
Scrabble Score: 11
trammel: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordtrammel: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
trammel: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary