Trammel /(?)/

Tram·mel

Trammel

n.
  1. A kind of net for catching birds, fishes, or other prey.
  2. A net for confining a woman's hair.
  3. A kind of shackle used for regulating the motions of a horse and making him amble.
  4. Fig.: Whatever impedes activity, progress, or freedom, as a net or shackle.
    [They] disdain the trammels of any sordid contract.
    — Jeffrey.
  5. An iron hook of various forms and sizes, used for handing kettles and other vessels over the fire.
  6. An instrument for drawing ellipses, one part of which consists of a cross with two grooves at right angles to each other, the other being a beam carrying two pins (which slide in those grooves), and also the describing pencil. (Mech.)

Trammel

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Trammeled; p. pr. & vb. n. Trammeling

  1. To entangle, as in a net; to catch. [R.]
  2. To confine; to hamper; to shackle.