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Encumbrance


ENCUM'BRANCE, noun A load; any thing that impedes motion, or renders it difficult and laborious; clog; impediment.

1. Useless addition or load.

Strip from the branching Alps their piny load,

The huge encumbrance of horrific wood.

2. Load or burden on an estate; a legal claim on an estate, for the discharge of which the estate is liable.