hinder1
/ˈhɪndə
/verb [with object]
Make it difficult for (someone) to do something or for (something) to happen: language barriers hindered communication between scientists...
- Will this not hinder other children and slow down progress as a whole?
- To a country boy only seven years old it is terrifying, but Jack is determined his handicap is not going to hinder him.
- Or should it simply get out of the way and stop hindering fathers who want to do right by their children?
Synonyms
hamper, be a hindrance to, obstruct, impede, inhibit, retard, baulk, thwart, foil, baffle, curb, delay, arrest, interfere with, set back, slow down, hold back, hold up, forestall, stop, halt;
restrict, restrain, constrain, block, check, curtail, frustrate, cramp, handicap, cripple, hamstring, shackle, fetter, encumber
informal stymie
British informal throw a spanner in the works of, throw a spoke in the wheel of
North American informal bork, throw a monkey wrench in the works of
rare cumber, trammel
Origin
Old English hindrian 'injure or damage', of Germanic origin; related to German hindern, also to behind.
Rhymes
hinder2
/ˈhʌɪndə/adjective [attributive]
(Especially of a bodily part) rear; hind: the hinder end of its body...
- As William told it, ‘He forgot to fit a tail on his hinder parts.’
- When the fish is too large to be swallowed entire, the hinder portion will be bitten off and the anterior part allowed to float or sink.
- Sir George strode purposefully towards a grand statue of a heroic millipede raised on its hinder legs clutching a large cross in several of its limbs.
Origin
Middle English: perhaps from Old English hinderweard 'backward', related to behind.