hamshackle

English

Etymology

ham +‎ shackle

Verb

hamshackle (third-person singular simple present hamshackles, present participle hamshackling, simple past and past participle hamshackled)

1. (transitive) To tie (an animal) by a rope binding the head to one of the forelegs.

   to hamshackle a horse or cow

2. (transitive, figurative) To bind or restrain; to impose restrictions upon.
   • 2010, Steven Ortlepp, Introduction to the Interlinear Bible, page 180:

     Not only are our sources, indicating the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, limited, but we are also hamshackled by certain time constraints.

References

“hamshackle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.