Definition of "encumbrance" []

• One that encumbers; a burden or impediment. (noun)
• Law A lien or claim on property. (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.

• "But at this stage Hitler wished to avoid the "encumbrance" of the capital cities, with their huge and hungry populations, and believed that by dividing his strength between the north, where Leningrad was to be"
• "Mrs. Corcoran Dunn's congratulations on riddance from the "encumbrance" shamed her and stilled the reproaches of her conscience."
• "But pupils are not readily attainable by a heretic woman, away from her natural home, and with a young child as "encumbrance"."