cumbrance

[ kuhm-bruhns ]

noun

1. trouble; bother.
2. burden; encumbrance.

cumbrance

/ ˈkʌmbrəns /

noun

1. a burden, obstacle, or hindrance
2. trouble or bother

Word History and Origins

Origin of cumbrance¹

1275–1325; Middle English combraunce, aphetic variant of acombraunce defeat, harassment; encumbrance

Example Sentences

Ladders fall toward the excessive end of Mr. Ten Eyck’s sliding scale of regulatory cumbrance; on the more helpful end are procedures required to track produce when there is a disease or illness outbreak.

From New York Times

And thus I shall not only be burdened in conscience for payment of this great sum, but also entangled and in great cumbrance to satisfy the avidity of this gentlewoman.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr Blake, however, was allowed to return to his living, but 'not without the cumbrance of a Factious Lecturer,' and was not in full possession till after the Restoration.

From Project Gutenberg

But he does not forget the struggles and sorrows of the early days when he was only a "'cumbrance," and in his own happy life there is always sympathy for the poor and oppressed.

From Project Gutenberg

Give me the necessity of working for my daily bread so that I will not feel as though I were a useless cumbrance upon the earth; allow me an opportunity now and then of doing a kindly act, even if it be no more than restoring to the shelter of its mother's breast a fledgling that has fallen from its nest in a tree top.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• barrier
• deterrent
• drawback
• handicap
• hitch
• impediment
• interference
• interruption
• obstacle
• snag
• stumbling block