To impede the motion or action of, as with a burden; to retard with something superfluous; to weigh down; to obstruct or embarrass; as, his movements were encumbered by his mantle; his mind is encumbered with useless learning
When we agree to pay for something, perhaps by ordering merchandise or accepting a bid, we mark the money we've promised to pay so it's not spent elsewhere This is called encumbering funds Funds you have encumbered are not yet spent, so they are tracked in a separate column in your accounting reports Banner also calls them commitments
a bookkeeping procedure that commits a given amount of money to the payment of an order; each time an order is placed, an amount of money (the encumbrance) equal to the total price of the order is deducted from the free balance
If you are encumbered by something, it prevents you from moving freely or doing what you want. Lead weights and air cylinders encumbered the divers as they walked to the shore It is still labouring under the debt burden that it was encumbered with in the 1980s. = burden + encumbered en·cum·bered The rest of the world is less encumbered with legislation. to make it difficult for you to do something or for something to happen = burden (encombrer, from combre )
[ in-'k&m-b&r ] (transitive verb.) 14th century. Middle English encombren, from Middle French encombrer, from Old French, from en- + Old French combre dam, weir.