'Impediment' definitions:
Definition of 'impediment'
(from WordNet)
noun
Something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress [syn: hindrance, hinderance, deterrent, impediment, balk, baulk, check, handicap]
noun
Any structure that makes progress difficult [syn: obstruction, obstructor, obstructer, impediment, impedimenta]
Definition of 'Impediment'
From: GCIDE
- Impediment \Im*ped"i*ment\, v. t. To impede. [R.] --Bp. Reynolds. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Impediment'
From: 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]
Synonyms of 'impediment'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- 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