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Definition of "cumber" [cum•ber]

  • To weigh down; burden: was cumbered with many duties. (verb-transitive)
  • To hamper or hinder, as by being in the way: was cumbered with a long poncho. (verb-transitive)
  • To litter; clutter up: Weeds cumbered the garden paths. (verb-transitive)
  • Archaic To bother; distress. (verb-transitive)
  • A hindrance; an encumbrance. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "cumber" in a sentence
  • "The word cumber here means to render barren or sterile."
  • "Such trifles at best come under the head of what old Warner would have called cumber-minds."
  • "He made this plea, not with an armoury of Greek learning, such as cumber Virgil and Horace, but with an original passion."