verb
- to weigh down, burden, or impede with something heavy or troublesome
- to burden with debt or legal obligations
Usage: legal; financial
Examples
- Heavy backpacks encumbered the hikers as they climbed the steep trail.
- Don’t encumber yourself with too many commitments this semester.
- The old furniture encumbered the small apartment.
- Legal disputes encumbered the sale of the property.
- She refused to encumber her children with her financial problems.
- Thick winter coats encumbered the players’ movements on the field.
- The estate was encumbered with substantial debts.