Cumber
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˈkʌmbə/
- Rhymes: -ʌmbə(ɹ)
Alternative forms
- cumbre archaic
Origin
From the Middle English combren.
Full definition of cumber
Verb
- (transitive, dated) To slow down, to hinder, to burden.
- DrydenWhy asks he what avails him not in fight,
And would but cumber and retard his flight? - John LockeThe multiplying variety of arguments, especially frivolous ones, ... but cumbers the memory.
- 1886, Sir Walter Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel. Pub.: Adams & Charles Black, Edinburgh; page 321:... the base villain who murdered this poor defenceless old man, when he had not, by the course of nature, a twelvemonth's life in him, shall not cumber the earth long after him.