• Impinge

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /ɪmˈpɪndÊ’/

    Origin

    From Latin impingō ("dash against, impinge").

    Full definition of impinge

    Verb

    1. (transitive, now rare) To make a physical impact (on); to collide, to crash (upon).
      • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. 1, New York Review Books 2001, p. 287:The ordinary rocks upon which such men do impinge and precipitate themselves, are cards, dice, hawks, and hounds ....
    2. (intransitive, figuratively) To interfere with; to encroach (on, upon).
      • 2006, Summer, Keith R. Fisher, Toward a Basal Tenth Amendment: A Riposte to National Bank Preemption of State Consumer Protection Laws, It is astonishing that the meaning of a single declarative sentence enshrined in the Bill of Rights has evaded judicial construction establishing, at a minimum, some bedrock level of state sovereignty upon which the federal government can not impinge.
    3. (intransitive) To have an effect upon; to limit.
      • 1913, w, Lord Stranleigh Abroad Chapter 4, “I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity. …”

    Usage notes

    The transitive use is less common, not included in many small dictionaries, and not favored by Garner's Modern American Usage (2009).

    Derived terms

    terms derived from impinge

    Related terms

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