| 释义 |
▪ I. hamstring, n.|ˈhæmstrɪŋ|
[f. ham n.1 + string n.]
a. In human anatomy, one of the tendons (four inner and one outer) which form the sides of the ham or space at the back of the knee; they are the tendons of the semimembranosus, semitendinosus, gracilis, sartorius, and biceps muscles of the thigh.
b. In quadrupeds, the great tendon at the back of the ‘knee’ or hough in the hind leg; it is the tendo Achillis, corresponding to that of the heel in man.
1565Golding Ovid's Met. ii. (1593) 53 Hir hamstrings and her knees were stiffe. 1600Holland Livy 462 (R.) Wounding their backes, and cutting their hamstrings. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 293/1 A Leg of Veal or Mutton hung by the Ham String on a Hook. 1804Abernethy Surg. Obs. 260, I also drew the integuments gently towards the inner ham-string.
▪ II. hamstring, v.|ˈhæmstrɪŋ|
Pa. tense and pple. -stringed |-strɪŋd|, -strung |-strʌŋ|.
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To cut the hamstrings of, so as to lame or disable; also to cut the muscle or tendons of the small of the whale.
1675Prideaux Lett. (Camden) 33 If they should know this to, they would hamstring me. 1831Youatt Horse i. (1847) 4 The Israelites were commanded to hough or ham⁓string the horses that were taken in war. 1865Reader 17 June 676 Poor Cyrill Lucar was ham-stringed by order of the Sultan in 1638.
2. transf. and fig. To disable as if by hamstringing; to cripple, destroy the activity or efficiency of.
1641Milton Reform. ii. (1851) 47 So have they hamstrung the valour of the Subject by seeking to effeminate us all at home. a1678Marvell Poems, Damon the Mower, Ham⁓stringed frogs can dance no more. 1719T. Gordon Cordial Low Spirits I. 129 A Reason sufficient, why Oaths ought not to Hamstring the Ambassadors. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. iii. ii. (1865) I. 144 Thought all hamstrung, shrivelled by inveterate rheumatism. |