hamstring
part of speech
noun (a hamstring, hamstrings); verb (hamstring, hamstrings, hamstrung, hamstringing)
meaning for a pupil
1) One of the strong tendons or muscles at the back of the thigh, above the knee. tree →
2) (verb) To stop someone or something from working well: the team was hamstrung by injuries. tree →
3) (verb, old) To cut an animal's hamstring so it cannot run. tree →
sense in the lessons
In PE and sports lessons the hamstrings are stretched in warm-ups; a «hamstring injury» or «pulled hamstring» is common in football, rugby and running. In news it describes plans that are held back by lack of money or rules. Phrases: pull a hamstring, hamstring stretch, hamstrung by.
examples
- Stretch your hamstrings before you run. tree →
- The striker pulled a hamstring and was off for a month. tree →
- Touch your toes to feel your hamstrings stretch. tree →
- The project was hamstrung by a lack of money. tree →
- Hamstring injuries are common in sprinters. tree →
- The physio taped up her sore hamstring. tree →
note
Past tense: hamstrung (also hamstringed, rarer). One word: ham + string. «Ham» is an old word for the back of the knee. In science, the hamstrings bend the knee, the opposite of the quadriceps.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «hamstring» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.