encumber
verb [T] /ɪnˈkʌm.bər/
/-bɚ/ formalDefinition
› to weigh someone or something down, or to make it difficult for someone to do something: Today, thankfully, women tennis players are not encumbered with/by long, heavy skirts and high-necked blouses.Preventing and impedingLimiting and restrictingCausing difficulties for oneself or others encumbrance /-brəns/ noun [C] › something that encumbers you: When you're walking 30 miles a day, the fewer encumbrances the better.Preventing and impedingLimiting and restrictingThick, dense and heavy
(Definition of encumber verb from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
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Synonyms and related words:
- be a tall order idiom
- be asking for trouble idiom
- be your own worst enemy idiom
- catch sb out phrasal verb (CAUSE DIFFICULTY)
- come back/home to roost idiom
- fault line noun (PROBLEM)
- land sb in sth phrasal verb
- lay up trouble for yourself idiom
- lay yourself open to attack, criticism, ridicule, etc. idiom
- like pulling teeth idiom
- make a rod for your own back idiom
- pose verb (CAUSE)
- shoot yourself in the foot idiom
- sow the seeds of sth idiom
- spell trouble idiom
- store up trouble/problems idiom
- storm cloud noun
- subject sb/sth to sth phrasal verb
- suicide noun (DEFEAT)
- wrong-foot verb
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