impingement

[ im-pinj-muhnt ]

noun

1. the act or fact of encroaching or infringing:

   This is an impingement on the fundamental right of free speech.

2. the act or fact of striking or touching something, or the effect produced by this:

   The impingement on the diamond’s hard crystal surface is due to oxygen in the air.

3. Medicine/Medical. the act or fact of interfering with something, especially a nerve, through contact or pressure:

   Impingement on the nerves can be relieved by removing the portion of the bone compressing the neural structures.

Word History and Origins

Origin of impingement¹

impinge ( def ) + -ment ( def )

Example Sentences

Sharp underwent surgery to repair a hip impingement in September.

From Washington Post

They furnish a point of impingement in articulation, and play their part in sympathetic resonance.

From Project Gutenberg

The eye is created in conformity to the laws of light, to receive the rays and allow their impingement on the optic nerves.

From Project Gutenberg

I cannot tell the precise spot of its impingement, but it hit him hard.

From Project Gutenberg