To encumber means to weigh something down or make it harder to move, use, or accomplish. If you encumber yourself with too many books while walking home from the library, you're carrying so much that it's difficult to open doors or move freely. A hiker encumbered by a heavy, poorly packed backpack will tire more quickly than one traveling light.

The word often describes how rules, restrictions, or obligations can slow things down. A business might be encumbered by complicated regulations that make it hard to operate efficiently. A student trying to focus on homework might feel encumbered by constant interruptions from younger siblings.

In legal and property contexts, something is encumbered when it has debts or claims attached to it. A house with an unpaid mortgage is considered encumbered property because the bank has a claim on it until the loan is paid off.

The related noun encumbrance describes whatever is doing the encumbering. Bad weather can be an encumbrance to a camping trip. Unnecessary worries can become an encumbrance to clear thinking. When you remove encumbrances, you free yourself or something else to work better and move more easily.