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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Impediment \Im*ped"i*ment\, noun [L. impedimentum: cf. F. impediment.] That which impedes or hinders progress, motion, activity, or effect.
Thus far into the bowels of the land Have we marched on without impediment. --Shak.
{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.
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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Impediment \Im*ped"i*ment\, verb (used with an object) To impede. [R.] --Bp. Reynolds.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
impediment
noun
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
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |