trammels
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tram·mel
(trăm′əl)n.
1. A shackle used to teach a horse to amble.
2. Something that restricts activity, expression, or progress; a restraint.
3. A vertically set fishing net of three layers, consisting of a finely meshed net between two nets of coarse mesh.
4. An instrument for drawing ellipses.
5. An instrument for gauging and adjusting parts of a machine; a tram.
6. An arrangement of links and a hook in a fireplace for raising and lowering a kettle.
tr.v. tram·meled, tram·mel·ing, tram·mels or tram·melled or tram·mel·ling
1. To enmesh in a fishing net.
2. To hinder the activity or free movement of.
[Middle English tramale, a kind of net, from Old French tramail, from Late Latin trēmaculum : Latin trēs, three; see trei- in Indo-European roots + Latin macula, mesh.]
tram′mel·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.