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[STIE-mee] 
transitive verb
1. to thwart, stump or present an obstacle to: "In the middle of the parking lot, the locking device designed to stymie shopping cart thieves clamped down on Bailey's cart, leaving him straining and cursing miserably."
noun
2. an obstacle that hinders progress
3. (as in golf) a situation in which an opponent's ball blocks the line between your ball and the hole
Origin:
Approximately 1857; possibly from earlier Scottish, 'stymie': a person who sees poorly, from 'stime': the least bit. In action:
"When President Truman's national health plan was in the crosshairs in the late 1940s, the architect of the American Medical Association's public relations blitz declared: 'If we can get 10 million more people insured in the next year and 10 million more in the next year, the threat of socialized medicine in this country will be over.'
The prediction was prescient but incomplete. Truman's proposal died, but reformers immediately responded by targeting government benefits at groups left out of the workplace system-the poor, the disabled, the elderly. Medicare and Medicaid, enacted in 1965, created the last major pieces of America's crazy-quilt of coverage.
Today, this jury-rigged system is almost perfectly structured to stymie constructive action. Begin with a simple fact: Most Americans are insured. While an inexcusable 15 percent lack coverage (and perhaps twice as many were uninsured at least once in the past two years), most have real, if often inadequate, coverage most of the time.
This helps explain why the biggest insurance issues of recent years-for example, the Patients' Bill of Rights-have concerned the insured, not the uninsured. It also explains why every one of the leading presidential contenders is vowing to build on the current system of employment-based insurance. Only one longshot candidate, congressman Dennis Kucinich, has bucked the trend with a proposal to expand Medicare to all Americans."
Jacob S. Hacker. "The perfect prescription," [Everyone has a health care reform plan. But the best approach to covering the uninsured isn't even on the table.] The Boston Globe (July 20, 2003).
"'We would have to look at historic trends, but that is a very high number,' said Alan Davidson of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a civil liberties group that has argued against the subpoenas. 'It doesn't sound like they're just going after a few big fish.'
Music fans are fighting back with technology, using new software designed specifically to stymie major record labels from monitoring of their online activities.
A new version of 'Kazaa Lite,' free software that provides access to the service operated by Sharman Networks Ltd., can prevent anyone from listing all music files on an individual's machine and purports to block scans from Internet addresses believed to be associated with the industry group."
Ted Bridis. "Music industry gets serious about suing Internet file-traders," The Associated Press (July 19, 2003).
"Described as a 'consummate professional' by colleagues, tough enough to grind down Iraqi officers who were trying to stymie weapons inspections, Kelly was nevertheless not a major player in producing the dossier on Iraqi weapons."
J.F.O. McAllister. "Collateral Damage," [David Kelly said he wasn't the source for a story suggesting the government 'sexed up' intelligence to win support for war in Iraq. Then he killed himself.] Time Europe (July 28, 2003).
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