cumber

[ kuhm-ber ]
See synonyms for cumber on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to hinder; hamper.

  2. to overload; burden.

  1. to inconvenience; trouble.

noun
  1. a hindrance.

  2. something that cumbers.

  1. Archaic. embarrassment; trouble.

Origin of cumber

1
1250–1300; Middle English cumbre (noun), cumbren (v.), aphetic variant of acumbren to harass, defeat; see encumber

Other words from cumber

  • cum·ber·er, noun
  • cum·ber·ment, noun
  • o·ver·cum·ber, verb (used with object)
  • un·cum·bered, adjective

Words Nearby cumber

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cumber in a sentence

  • There is no specimen at present in the Museum, the one stuffed by Miss cumber having, as above mentioned, disappeared.

  • God had, at any rate, decreed that this man should not cumber it as a drone.

    The Romany Rye | George Borrow
  • My followers have fled, though I am glad to see some of the hare-livered dogs cumber the ground.

    The Great Mogul | Louis Tracy
  • I believe,' said she smiling, though she sighed too, 'that I am still to cumber the ground a little longer.

    Discipline | Mary Brunton
  • There is (p. 361) no picturesque decay in London; what is not of use must go: it dare not cumber the precious ground.

British Dictionary definitions for cumber

cumber

/ (ˈkʌmbə) /


verb(tr)
  1. to obstruct or hinder

  2. obsolete to inconvenience

noun
  1. a hindrance or burden

Origin of cumber

1
C13: probably from Old French combrer to impede, prevent, from combre barrier; see encumber

Derived forms of cumber

  • cumberer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012