stymie

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The Word of the Day for January 20 is: 

stymie   \STYE-mee\   verb
     : to present an obstacle to : stand in the way of 

Example sentence:
     Alan's attempts to keep the apartment neat and clean were stymied by his 
roommates' sloppy habits.

Did you know?
     Golf was being played in Scotland as early as the 15th century, but it 
wasn't until the 19th century that the sport really caught on in England and 
North America. It was also in the 19th century that the word "stymie" entered 
English as a noun referring to a golfing situation in which one player's ball 
lies between another ball and the hole on the putting green, thereby blocking 
the line of play. Later, "stymie" came to be used as a verb meaning "to bring 
into the position of, or impede by, a stymie." By the early 20th century, the 
verb was being applied in similarly vexing non-golf contexts.