ENCUMBRANCE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does encumbrance mean? 

• ENCUMBRANCE (noun)
  The noun ENCUMBRANCE has 3 senses:

1. an onerous or difficult concern

2. a charge against property (as a lien or mortgage)

3. any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome

  Familiarity information: ENCUMBRANCE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENCUMBRANCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An onerous or difficult concern

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

burden; encumbrance; incumbrance; load; onus

Context example:

that's a load off my mind

Hypernyms ("encumbrance" is a kind of...):

concern; headache; vexation; worry (something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "encumbrance"):

dead weight (an oppressive encumbrance)

fardel (a burden (figuratively in the form of a bundle))

imposition (an uncalled-for burden)

pill (something unpleasant or offensive that must be tolerated or endured)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A charge against property (as a lien or mortgage)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

encumbrance; incumbrance

Hypernyms ("encumbrance" is a kind of...):

charge (financial liabilities (such as a tax))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

encumbrance; hinderance; hindrance; hitch; incumbrance; interference; preventative; preventive

Hypernyms ("encumbrance" is a kind of...):

impediment; impedimenta; obstructer; obstruction; obstructor (any structure that makes progress difficult)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "encumbrance"):

clog (any object that acts as a hindrance or obstruction)

speed bump (a hindrance to speeding created by a crosswise ridge in the surface of a roadway)

 Context examples 

Very pretty, sir, upon my word; to send me on here, to be an encumbrance to my friends, so long before you vouchsafe to come!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

“What! Bewitching Mrs. Copperfield's encumbrance?” cried the gentleman.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I had regarded his presence as an encumbrance to the expedition, but, as a matter of fact, I am now well convinced that his power of endurance is as great as my own.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

That, however, both their majesties would soon be made easy; for I had found a prodigious vessel on the shore, able to carry me on the sea, which he had given orders to fit up, with my own assistance and direction; and he hoped, in a few weeks, both empires would be freed from so insupportable an encumbrance.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The carriage stopped, as I had expected, at the hotel door; my flame (that is the very word for an opera inamorata) alighted: though muffed in a cloak—an unnecessary encumbrance, by-the-bye, on so warm a June evening—I knew her instantly by her little foot, seen peeping from the skirt of her dress, as she skipped from the carriage-step.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Her uncle, she understood, meant to fetch her; and as her cousin's illness had continued so many weeks without her being thought at all necessary, she must suppose her return would be unwelcome at present, and that she should be felt an encumbrance.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Here was knowledge in which no one could partake; and she was sensible that nothing less than a perfect understanding between the parties could justify her in throwing off this last encumbrance of mystery.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I have now concluded. It merely remains for me to substantiate these accusations; and then, with my ill-starred family, to disappear from the landscape on which we appear to be an encumbrance. That is soon done.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I hope I am aware that they may be too noisy for your father—or even may be some encumbrance to you, if your visiting engagements continue to increase as much as they have done lately.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She is no encumbrance here.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)