Impediment

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impediment \Im*ped"i*ment\, v. t.
     To impede. [R.] --Bp. Reynolds.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Impediment \Im*ped"i*ment\, n. [L. impedimentum: cf. F.
     impediment.]
     That which impedes or hinders progress, motion, activity, or
     effect.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Thus far into the bowels of the land
           Have we marched on without impediment.   --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Impediment in speech}, a defect which prevents distinct
        utterance.
  
     Syn: Hindrance; obstruction; obstacle; difficulty;
          incumbrance.
  
     Usage: {Impediment}, {Obstacle}, {Difficulty}, {Hindrance}.
            An impediment literally strikes against our feet,
            checking our progress, and we remove it. An obstacle
            rises before us in our path, and we surmount or remove
            it. A difficulty sets before us something hard to be
            done, and we encounter it and overcome it. A hindrance
            holds us back for a time, but we break away from it.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  The eloquence of Demosthenes was to Philip of
                  Macedon, a difficulty to be met with his best
                  resources, an obstacle to his own ambition, and
                  an impediment in his political career. --C. J.
                                                    Smith.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  impediment
       n 1: something immaterial that interferes with or delays action
            or progress [syn: {hindrance}, {deterrent}, {balk}, {baulk},
             {check}, {handicap}]
       2: any structure that makes progress difficult [syn: {obstruction},
           {obstructor}, {obstructer}, {impedimenta}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  107 Moby Thesaurus words for "impediment":
     arrest, arrestation, arrestment, bar, barrier, blank wall,
     blind alley, blind gut, block, blockade, blockage, blocking,
     bottleneck, burden, burthen, cargo, cecum, charge, check, choking,
     choking off, clog, clogging, closing up, closure, congestion,
     constipation, constriction, costiveness, cramp, cross, cul-de-sac,
     cumbrance, curb, dead end, deadweight, delay, detainment,
     detention, difficulty, disadvantage, embarrassment, embolism,
     embolus, encumbrance, fixation, foot-dragging, freight, gorge,
     hamper, hampering, handicap, hang-up, hindering, hindrance, hitch,
     hold-up, holdback, holdup, hurdle, impasse, impedance, impedimenta,
     imposition, inconvenience, infarct, infarction, inhibition,
     interference, interruption, jam, let, load, lumber, mountain,
     negativism, nuisance value, obstacle, obstipation, obstruction,
     obstructionism, occlusion, onus, opposition, pack, penalty,
     repression, resistance, restraint, restriction, retardation,
     retardment, rub, sealing off, setback, snag, squeeze, stop,
     stoppage, stranglehold, strangulation, stricture, stumbling block,
     suppression, trouble, weight, white elephant