IMPEDIMENT

impediment. impediment, let, or hinderance

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impediment. Impediment, n. an hinderance, obstruction, opposition

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Im‐ped″i‐ment (?), 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. — 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 resources, an obstacle to his own ambition, and an impediment in his political career. C. J. Smith.