DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Im·ped·i·ment n.  That which impedes or hinders progress, motion, activity, or effect.
 Thus far into the bowels of the land
 Have we marched on without impediment.   --Shak.
 Impediment in speech, a defect which prevents distinct utterance.
 Syn: -- Hindrance; obstruction; obstacle; difficulty; incumbrance.
 Usage: -- 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.
    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.