encumber
/ɪnˈkʌmbə
/ /ɛnˈkʌmbə/verb [with object]
Restrict or impede (someone or something) in such a way that free action or movement is difficult: she was encumbered by her heavy skirts they had arrived encumbered with families...
- Patients would enjoy a free choice of provider, and doctors and nurses would be freed from the massive bureaucracy that encumbers care and wastes money.
- Delaying litigation can encumber our project should we forget that we also work for those we seek to protect.
- It basically is a lawsuit that's filed that encumbers someone's basic right to free speech.
Synonyms
hamper, hinder, obstruct, impede, check, cramp, inhibit, restrict, limit, constrain, restrain, bog down, retard, slow, slow down, stall, delay;
inconvenience, disadvantage, handicap
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'cause trouble to, entangle'; formerly also as incumber): from Old French encombrer 'block up', from en- 'in' + combre 'river barrage'.