Plural of hamper; large baskets used for storing or transporting goods, or it can mean obstacles that hinder progress.
From Old Norse hamra and Old French hamper, ultimately from Medieval Latin meaning 'to cramp or confine.' The word evolved to mean both the basket itself and the action of hindering.
The word hamper has a split personality—it means both a storage container and an obstacle—showing how English sometimes uses the same word for opposite concepts depending on whether it's a noun or a verb.
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