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