What does "trammel" mean?
Whatever impedes activity, progress, or freedom, such as a net or shackle.
Trammel
/ˈtræməl/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Whatever impedes activity, progress, or freedom, such as a net or shackle.
- Grammar: trammel is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: hamper, anchor, arrest, bar.
- Useful contrasts: allow, enable, free.
- Usage evidence: If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well / It were done quickly: if the assassination / Could trammel up the consequence, and catch / With his surcease success; that but this blow / Might be the be-all and the end-all here, / But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, / We'd jump the life to come.
How to use "trammel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "trammel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "trammel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "trammel" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "trammel" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "trammel" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "hamper" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "trammel", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Whatever impedes activity, progress, or freedom, such as a net or shackle.
"[They] disclaim the trammels of any sordid contract."
- 2 a restraint that confines or restricts freedom (especially something used to tie down or restrain a prisoner) wordnet
- 3 A fishing net that has large mesh at the edges and smaller mesh in the middle
- 4 a restraint that is used to teach a horse to amble wordnet
- 5 A kind of net for catching birds, fishes, or other prey.
"1633, The tuck carrieth a like fashion , save that it is narrower meshed , and ( therefore scarce lawful ) with a long bunt in the midst : the trammel differeth not much from the shape of this bunt, and serveth to such use as the wear and haking."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 an adjustable pothook set in a fireplace wordnet
- 7 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.
- 8 a fishing net with three layers; the outer two are coarse mesh and the loose inner layer is fine mesh wordnet
- 9 Braids or plaits of hair.
"Her golden lockes she roundly did uptye In breaded tramels, that no looser heares Did out of order stray about her daintie eares."
- 10 A kind of shackle used for regulating the motions of a horse and making it amble.
- 11 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.
- 12 A beam compass.
Verb
- 1 To entangle, as in a net.
"the scarce-snatched hours Which deepening pain left to his lordliest powers: — Heaven lost through spider-trammelled prison-bars."
- 2 place limits on (extent or amount or access) wordnet
- 3 To confine; to hamper; to shackle. transitive
"In their vote, you would get something of some value, at least, however small; but in the other case, only the trammelled judgment of an individual, of no significance, be it which way it might."
- 4 catch in or as if in a trap wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well / It were done quickly: if the assassination / Could trammel up the consequence, and catch / With his surcease success; that but this blow / Might be the be-all and the end-all here, / But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, / We'd jump the life to come."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "trammel"?
Common synonyms include: hamper, anchor, arrest, bar, bearing rein, bilbo.
How do you use "trammel" in a sentence?
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well / It were done quickly: if the assassination / Could trammel up the consequence, and catch / With his surcease success; that but this blow / Might be the be-all and the end-all here, / But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, / We'd jump the life to come.
How do you pronounce "trammel"?
Pronounced /ˈtræməl/.
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”).