hamstring

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hamstring

/ˈhæmstɹɪŋ/

Rhymes with -æmstɹɪŋ

Where it comes from

From ham (“region back of the knee joint”) + string.

noun hamstrings

One of the great tendons situated in each side of the ham, or space back of the knee, and connected with the muscles of the back of the thigh. Lanctot slipped the tourniquet around the other, just under his groin, and twisted it tight, clamping quadriceps and hamstring hard to bone.
informal The biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus muscles. Developing muscle around both sides of a joint (think biceps and triceps, abs and low back, quads and hamstrings) should be one of your primary training considerations because strength on each side leads to lower injury rates.
Similar: hams, hammy, hammie

verb hamstrings · hamstringing · hamstrung · hamstringed

transitive To lame or disable by cutting the tendons of the ham or knee; to hough.
Similar: hock, hough, hox
figuratively, transitive To cripple; to incapacitate; to disable. So have they hamstrung the valor of the subject by seeking to effeminate us all at home.
Similar: cripple, incapacitate, disable

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: paralysing, crippling, semitendinosus, semimembranosus, quadriceps tendon, thigh, vastus, biceps femoris, gastrocnemius, femoral triangle, vastus lateralis, achilles tendon, tibia, patellar ligament, quadriceps femoris, meros

Translations

Every language

noun great tendon

Español	isquiotibial, músculo isquiotibial
한국어	햄스트링 haemseuteuring
日本語	ハムストリング hamusutoringu
Français	ischio-jambier
Deutsch	Hüftgelenkextensoren, Kniesehne, ischiocrurale Muskulatur, rückseitige Oberschenkelmuskulatur
Русский	подколе́нное сухожи́лие podkolénnoje suxožílije, поджи́лки podžílki
العربية	وَتَر اَلْمَأْبَض watar al-maʔbaḍ

verb to disable

Français	paralyser
العربية	عَقَرَ ʕaqara

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Cite this

MLA

"hamstring." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hamstring. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hamstring. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hamstring

Chicago

"hamstring." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hamstring.

BibTeX

@misc{hamstring_2026,
  title = {hamstring},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hamstring},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}