Meaning & use
hamper
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To make progress or movement difficult by getting in the way.
Grammar: Takes an object: hamper progress.
Patterns
- hamper something
- be hampered by something
Heavy snow hampered the rescue.
Poor eyesight hampers his driving.
The team was hampered by injuries.
nouncountable
A large lidded basket for carrying food or storing things such as laundry.
Grammar: Picnic hamper in British English; laundry hamper in American English.
Patterns
- a picnic hamper
- a laundry hamper
We packed sandwiches in the picnic hamper.
She tossed her dirty socks into the hamper.
The hamper was heavy with fruit and cheese.
nouncountableBritish
A gift box of food and drink, often given at holidays.
Grammar: Often a Christmas hamper.
Patterns
- a Christmas hamper
The company sent a Christmas hamper to every worker.
He won a food hamper in the raffle.
Her aunt gave her a hamper of tea and biscuits.
Word forms
| third person singular | hampers |
|---|---|
| past tense | hampered |
| past participle | hampered |
| -ing form | hampering |
Common combinations
- hamper progress
- Red tape can hamper progress.
- hamper efforts
- Bad weather hampered rescue efforts.
- seriously hamper
- The injury will seriously hamper his career.
- picnic hamper
- A picnic hamper sat on the grass.
- laundry hamper
- Put your clothes in the laundry hamper.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hinder
- Hinder is nearly the same but a little more formal, and often about slowing a process.
- impede
- Impede is more formal and suggests putting obstacles in the way.
- obstruct
- Obstruct suggests physically blocking something, not just slowing it.
- hold back
- Hold back is casual and may suggest someone is deliberately stopping progress.
Opposites
Word family
- hampered adjective
- slowed down or held back
- hampering adjective
- causing difficulty
- unhampered adjective
- not slowed by anything
Commonly confused: hamper or hammer?
hamper vs hammer
A hammer is a tool for hitting nails. Hamper is a word for slowing progress or a basket.
Practice
Which sentence uses hamper as a verb?
Choose one answer.
Hampered the search means made the search harder. The other sentences use hamper as a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hamper”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.