Impediment (?), n. [L. impedimentum: cf. F. impediment.] That which impedes or hinders progress, motion, activity, or effect.
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Thus far into the bowels of the land
Have we marched on without impediment. Shak.
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Impediment in speech, a defect which prevents distinct utterance.

Syn. -- Hindrance; obstruction; obstacle; difficulty; incumbrance. -- Impediment, Obstacle, Difficulty, Hindrance. An impediment literally strikes against our feet, checking our progress, and we remove it. An obstacle rises before us in our path, and we surmount or remove it. A difficulty sets before us something hard to be done, and we encounter it and overcome it. A hindrance holds us back for a time, but we break away from it.
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The eloquence of Demosthenes was to Philip of Macedon, a difficulty to be met with his best resources, an obstacle to his own ambition, and an impediment in his political career. C. J. Smith.
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