impediment : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: impediment	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for impediment
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
impediment n something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress Synonym(s): hindrance, hinderance, deterrent, impediment, balk, baulk, check, handicap any structure that makes progress difficult Synonym(s): obstruction, obstructor, obstructer, impediment, impedimenta
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Impediment \Imped"iment\, n. [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 recources, ant obstacle to his own ambition, and an impedimen in his political career. --C. J. Smith.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Impediment \Imped"iment\, v. t. To impede. [R.] --Bp. Reynolds.