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stymie

sty·mie

UK/ˈstaɪmi/ US/ˈstaɪmi/ uncommon
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

a situation in golf where an opponent''s ball blocks the line between your ball and the hole

2.

verb

1.

hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of

  • “His brother blocked him at every turn”
Synonyms

Origin

From the meaning in golf (where the stymie ball blocks the other ball from "seeing" the hole), perhaps from Scots stymie, stimie (“person with poor eyesight”), from Scots stime (“the least bit”). Or from Scots styme (“tiny bit, glimmer”) as in se nocht ane styme (“not to see a glimmer (of something)”). If so, it is a doublet of stime.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.