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encumber

[en-kuhm-ber]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used with object)

to impede or hinder; hamper; retard: Red tape encumbers all our attempts at action.

to block up or fill with what is obstructive or superfluous: a mind encumbered with trivial and useless information.

to burden or weigh down: She was encumbered with a suitcase and several packages.

to burden with obligations, debt, etc.

Also, incumber.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English encombren < Anglo-French, Middle French encombrer, equivalent to en- en-¹ + -combrer, verbal derivative of combre dam, weir < early Medieval Latin combrus < Gaulish *comberos confluence, bringing together (compare Quimper, in Brittany < Breton Kemper); see com-, bear¹

Related forms

en·cum·ber·ing·ly, adverb

un·en·cum·bered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Encumber is one of our favorite verbs.

So is kibitz. Does it mean:

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

chat, to converse

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Example Sentences

He said the campaign did not encumber the public funds in any way.

The fact that there are so many people from different political orientations should enhance the debating, not encumber it.

Collins

World English Dictionary

encumber or incumber (ɪnˈkʌmbə)

—vb
1.	to hinder or impede; make difficult; hamper: encumbered with parcels after going shopping at Christmas; his stupidity encumbers his efforts to learn
2.	to fill with superfluous or useless matter
3.	to burden with debts, obligations, etc

[C14: from Old French encombrer, from en-¹ + combre a barrier, from Late Latin combrus, of uncertain origin]

incumber or incumber

—vb

[C14: from Old French encombrer, from en-¹ + combre a barrier, from Late Latin combrus, of uncertain origin]

en'cumberingly or incumber

—*adv*

in'cumberingly or incumber

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

encumber

early 14c., from O.Fr. encombrer "to block up," from L.L. incombrare, from in- "in" + combrus "barricade, obstacle," probably from L. cumulus "heap." Related: Encumbered; encumbering.

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Related Words

baggage foul hamper hinder

load lumber pester weight

Matching Quote

"Firm, faithful, and devoted, full of energy and zeal, and truth, he labours for his race; he clears their painful way to improvement; he hews down like a giant the prejudices of creed and caste that encumber it. He may be stern; he may be exacting; he may be ambitious yet; but his is the sternness of the warrior Greatheart, who guards his pilgrim convoy from the onslaught of Apollyon. His is the exaction of the apostle, who speaks but for Christ, when he says, "Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." His is the ambition of the high master-spirit, which aims to fill a place in the first rank of those who are redeemed from the earth—who stand without fault before the throne of God, who share the last mighty victories of the Lamb, who are called, and chosen, and faithful."

-Charlotte Brontë

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