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stymie

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sty⋅mie

  [stahy-mee] noun, verb, -mied, -mie⋅ing.
Use stymie in a Sentence
–noun
1. Golf. (on a putting green) an instance of a ball's lying on a direct line between the cup and the ball of an opponent about to putt.
2. a situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.
–verb (used with object)
3. to hinder, block, or thwart.
Also, stymy, stimy.

Origin:
1855–60; orig. uncert.

Synonyms:
3. stump, mystify, frustrate, confound.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sty·mie also sty·my   (stī'mē)   
tr.v.   sty·mied (-mēd), sty·mie·ing also sty·my·ing (-mē-ĭng), sty·mies (-mēz)
To thwart; stump: a problem in thermodynamics that stymied half the class.
n.  

  1. An obstacle or obstruction.

  2. Sports A situation in golf in which an opponent's ball obstructs the line of play of one's own ball on the putting green.


[Origin unknown.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
stymie [ˈstɑɪmi]

  1. tv.
    to obstruct someone or something. : He did everything he could to stymie the investigation.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

stymie 
1834, (n.), "condition in which an opponent's golf ball blocks the hole," perhaps from Scottish stymie "person who sees poorly," from stime "the least bit" (c.1300), of uncertain origin (Icelandic cognate skima is attested from c.1685). The verb, in golf, is from 1857; general sense of "block, hinder, thwart" is from 1902.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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