Adjacent Words

Encumber definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ENCUM'BER, v.t.
1. To load; to clog; to impede motion with a load, burden or any thing inconvenient to the limbs; to render motion or operation difficult or laborious.
2. To embarrass; to perplex; to obstruct.
3. To load with debts; as, an estate is encumbered with mortgages, or with a widow's dower.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: hold back [syn: restrain, encumber, cumber, constrain]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-cumbered; encumbering) Etymology: Middle English encombren, from Anglo-French encumbrer, from en- + Middle French combre dam, weir Date: 14th century 1. weigh down, burden <tourists encumbered by heavy luggage> 2. to impede or hamper the function or activity of ; hinder <negotiations encumbered by a lack of trust> 3. to burden with a legal claim (as a mortgage) <encumber an estate>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 be a burden to. 2 hamper, impede. 3 burden (a person or estate) with debts, esp. mortgages. 4 fill or block (a place) esp. with lumber. Derivatives: encumberment n. Etymology: ME f. OF encombrer block up f. Rmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Encumber En*cum"ber, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Encumbered; p. pr. & vb. n. Encumbering.] [F. encombrer; pref. en- (L. in) + OF. combrer to hinder. See Cumber, and cf. Incumber.] [Written also incumber.] 1. To impede the motion or action of, as with a burden; to retard with something superfluous; to weigh down; to obstruct or embarrass; as, his movements were encumbered by his mantle; his mind is encumbered with useless learning. Not encumbered with any notable inconvenience. --Hooker. 2. To load with debts, or other legal claims; as, to encumber an estate with mortgages. Syn: To load; clog; oppress; overload; embarrass; perplex; hinder; retard; obstruct; check; block.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(encumbers, encumbering, encumbered) If you are encumbered by something, it prevents you from moving freely or doing what you want. Lead weights and air cylinders encumbered the divers as they walked to the shore... It is still labouring under the debt burden that it was encumbered with in the 1980s. = burden VERB: V n, be V-ed with n • encumbered The rest of the world is less encumbered with legislation... ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ with/by n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Load, clog, oppress, impede, hinder, obstruct, overload, burden. 2. Embarrass, perplex, entangle, involve, complicate.

Moby Thesaurus

add, adjoin, affix, agglutinate, annex, append, attach, bear hard upon, block, burden, burthen, charge, clog, complicate, conjoin, cramp, cripple, cumber, decorate, discommode, embarrass, enmesh, ensnarl, entangle, entoil, entrammel, entrap, entwine, fetter, freight, glue on, hamper, hamstring, handicap, hinder, hitch on, hobble, impede, incommode, inconvenience, infix, involve, join with, lade, lame, lime, load, lumber, net, obstruct, oppress, ornament, overburden, overload, overtax, overweight, paste on, plus, postfix, prefix, press down, press hard upon, put with, rest hard upon, retard, saddle, saddle with, shackle, slap on, slow down, snarl, strain, subjoin, suffix, superadd, superpose, tack on, tag, tag on, tangle, tax, toil, trammel, unite with, weigh, weigh down, weigh heavy on, weigh on, weigh upon, weight