encumber
View all »Definitions (6)
American Heritage Dictionary (3)
- transitive verb To put a heavy load on; burden: a hiker who was encumbered with a heavy pack; a life that has always been encumbered with responsibilities.
- transitive verb To hinder or impede the action or performance of: restrictions that encumber police work.
- transitive verb To burden with legal or financial obligations: an estate that is encumbered with debts.
Century Dictionary (1)
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet (1)
Elsewhere on the web
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- Evidently the heathen man is not treated fairly if we encumber our message with unnecessary requirements. — Life of John Coleridge Patteson
- He cast off the empty scabbard of his broadsword; too light to make an effective weapon, it would only encumber him. — Conan Of The Isles
- She pulled a white sheet over David Brandt's face and shook her head. — 1st to Die
- It was conceivable that she could actually show up and encumber me with aid again, at exactly the wrong moment. — Blood of Amber
- He shall not his brain encumber — Ralph Waldo Emerson
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View all »Etymologies (3)
American Heritage Dictionary (1)
- Middle English encombren, from Old French encombrer, to block up : en-, in; see en-1 + combre, hindrance (from Gaulish *comboros).
Century Dictionary (1)
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet
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Pronunciations
/ (ĕn-kŭmˈbər)/
ahd pronounces "encumber"
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American Heritage Dictionary