From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhamperham‧per1 /ˈhæmpə $ -ər/ ●○○ verb [transitive] PROBLEMto make it difficult for someone to do something She tried to run, but was hampered by her heavy suitcase. An attempt to rescue the men has been hampered by bad weather.→ See Verb table
DLO British English a basket with a lid, which is used for carrying food or sending it to someone as a present a picnic hamper They sent us a lovely Christmas hamper.2 American EnglishDHC a large basket that you put dirty clothes in until they can be washed SYN laundry basket British English
Examples from the Corpus
hamper• Wilken said voters' First Amendment right to pick the candidate of their choice was hampered.• The real estate market is not unaffected but it is not seriously hampered.• The kitchen may be somewhat hampered by less-than-premium ingredients, primarily meats.• The police's work is hampered by people who file false complaints.• Search efforts were hampered by strong winds and fifteen foot waves.• Pay determination is also hampered by such factors as inflation rates and currency fluctuations against the pound.• They tend to hamper every search for factual reality, including research in science.• Geest warned in the autumn that oversupply in the final quarter of 1995 would severely hamper its full-year bottom line.• Bad weather has hampered the bombers that lack modern night-attack equipment.• Health care costs are severely hampering the nation's small businesses.• This hampers the small banks that the non-banks use as a conduit for their services.hamperhamper2 noun [countable] 1 DLO British English a basket with a lid, which is used for carrying food or sending it to someone as a present a picnic hamper They sent us a lovely Christmas hamper.2 American EnglishDHC a large basket that you put dirty clothes in until they can be washed SYN laundry basket British EnglishExamples from the Corpus
hamper• We whipped up Christmassy feelings and pulled decorations and paper hats out of a hamper given by soldiers in the Outer Hebrides.• Near the wall was a bass hamper.• The bag had been sitting in this dank tent for the last three days and smelled like an old laundry hamper.• Or the chauffeur, walking ahead, carried the hamper, spread the cloth, returned to the car.• I hung up my tie and jacket, kicked off my sneakers, and threw everything else into the hamper.• He placed the hamper on the ground, spread a cloth.• This wicker hamper is packed with delicious goodies and costs £64.92, inclusive of nationwide delivery.Origin hamper1 (1300-1400) Origin unknown hamper2 (1300-1400) hanaper “case for holding cups” ((13-19 centuries)), from Old French hanap “cup” 