stymie

• stimy, stymy

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• IPA^(key): /ˈstaɪmi/
• Rhymes: -aɪmi

stymie (plural stymies)

1. An obstacle or obstruction.
2. (golf) A situation where an opponent's ball is directly in the way of one's own ball and the hole, on the putting green (abolished 1952).

stymie (third-person singular simple present stymies, present participle stymieing, simple past and past participle stymied)

1. To thwart or stump; to cause to fail or to leave hopelessly puzzled, confused, or stuck.

   They had lost the key, and the lock stymied the first three locksmiths they called.

   • 2007 January 21, Joyce Cohen, “Beauty in the Eye of the Renter”, in New York Times‎:

     I was making such a drama in my head it was stymieing me.

2. (golf) To bring into the position of, or impede by, a stymie.