| 释义 |
tram·mel
I. \ˈtraməl\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English tramayle, tramale, from Middle French tremail, from Late Latin tremaculum, from tres three + macula mesh, spot — more at three
1. : a net for catching birds or fishes: as
a. : an anchored gill net
b. : trammel net
2. : a shackle used for regulating the motions of a horse and making him amble
3. : something impeding activity, progress, or freedom as if by a net or shackle : restraint, check — usually used in plural
< the poet's imagination must be free and has progressively thrown off the trammels of respectability, tradition, and more recently the established conventions of communication by language — N.E.Nelson >
< bound by the trammels of human nature — Robert Graves >
< the masses … sought to build an America free of the trammels of the Old World — H.J.Laski >
4. : an adjustable pothook for a fireplace crane
5. trammels plural, obsolete : braids, plaitings, or tresses of a woman's hair
6.
a.
(1) : an instrument for drawing ellipses consisting of a cross with two grooves at right angles to each other and a beam carrying two pins which slide in those grooves and also a describing pencil
(2) : any of various mechanical devices for drawing ellipses : ellipsograph
b.
(1) : beam compass — usually used in plural and often used with pair
< a pair of trammels >
(2) : either of the sliding parts on the beam of a beam compass
c. : any of various gages used for aligning or adjusting machine parts — called also tram
II. transitive verb
(trammeled or trammelled ; trammeled or trammelled ; trammeling or trammelling \-m(ə)liŋ\ ; trammels)
1.
a. : to catch (as fish) in a trammel
b. obsolete : to attach trammels to (a horse) : shackle
2. : to hold in or as if in a net : tie or fasten securely : enmesh
< while suffering the almost irremediable homesickness of bereavement had now become trammeled in events — Ethel Wilson >
— sometimes used with up
< if the assassination could trammel up the consequence — Shakespeare >
3. : to impose restraints upon : prevent or impede the free play of exercise of : confine
< writing about people whose speech and behavior were trammeled to a certain extent by the usages of polite society — Wolcott Gibbs >
< their life was at once dangerously trammeled and dangerously free — John Buchan >
< the classical models no longer trammel, but assist him to be more effectively himself — H.O.Taylor >
< these observations, by trammeling his every act, annihilate his freedom — J.G.Frazer >
Synonyms: see hamper |