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Webster 1913 Edition


Cumber

Cum′ber

(k?m′b?r)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cumbered
(-b?rd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Cumbering
.]
[OE.
combren
,
cumbren
,OF.
combrer
to hinder, from LL.
cumbrus
a heap, fr. L.
cumulus
; cf. Skr.
[GREEK][GREEK]
to increase, grow strong. Cf.
Cumulate
.]
To rest upon as a troublesome or useless weight or load; to be burdensome or oppressive to; to hinder or embarrass in attaining an object, to obstruct or occupy uselessly; to embarrass; to trouble.
Why asks he what avails him not in fight,
And would but
cumber
and retard his flight?
Dryden.
Martha was
cumbered
about much serving.
Luke x. 40.
Cut it down; why
cumbereth
it the ground?
Luke xiii. 7.
The multiplying variety of arguments, especially frivolous ones, . . . but
cumbers
the memory.
Locke.

Cum′ber

(k?m′b?r)
,
Noun.
[Cf.
encombre
hindrance, impediment. See Cuber,
Verb.
]
Trouble; embarrassment; distress.
[Obs.]
[Written also
comber
.]
A place of much distraction and
cumber
.
Sir H. Wotton.
Sage counsel in
cumber
.
Sir W. Scott.

Webster 1828 Edition


Cumber

CUMBER

,
Verb.
T.
[G., to arrest, to concern, to trouble, to grieve.]
1.
To load; to crowd.
A variety of frivolous arguments cumbers the memory to no purpose.
2.
To check, stop or retard, as by a load or weight; to make motion difficult; to obstruct.
Why asks he what avails him not in fight, and would but cumber and retard his flight.
3.
To perplex or embarrass; to distract or trouble.
Martha was cumbered about much serving. Luke 10.
4.
To trouble; to be troublesome to; to cause trouble or obstruction in, as any thing useless. Thus, brambles cumber a garden or field. [See Encumber, which is more generally used.]

CUMBER

,
Noun.
Hindrance; obstruction; burdensomeness; embarrassment; disturbance; distress.
Thus fade thy helps, and thus thy cumbers spring. [This word is now scarcely used.]

Definition 2024


cumber

cumber

English

Alternative forms

Verb

cumber (third-person singular simple present cumbers, present participle cumbering, simple past and past participle cumbered)

  1. (transitive, dated) To slow down; to hinder; to burden.
    • Dryden
      Why asks he what avails him not in fight, / And would but cumber and retard his flight?
    • John Locke
      The multiplying variety of arguments, especially frivolous ones, [] but cumbers the memory.
    • 1886, Sir Walter Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel. Pub.: Adams & Charles Black, Edinburgh; page 321:
      [] the base villain who murdered this poor defenceless old man, when he had not, by the course of nature, a twelvemonth's life in him, shall not cumber the earth long after him.
    • 1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson:
      Why had he not killed himself long ago? Why cumbered he the earth?

Synonyms

See also

  • Wikisaurus:hinder

Related terms

Translations

References

  • cumber” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).