D defs.my
Entry 2 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Cumber

/(k?m"b?r)/ · Cum·ber · IPA /ˈkʌmbə/
01 v. t. To rest upon as a troublesome or useless weight or load; to be burdensome or oppressive to; to hinder or embarrass in attaining an object, …
imp. & p. p. Cumbered; p. pr. & vb. n. Cumbering
  1. 1.
    To rest upon as a troublesome or useless weight or load; to be burdensome or oppressive to; to hinder or embarrass in attaining an object, to obstruct or occupy uselessly; to embarrass; to trouble.
    “Why asks he what avails him not in fight, And would but cumber and retard his flight?” Dryden.
    “Martha was cumbered about much serving.” — Luke x. 40.
    “Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?” — Luke xiii. 7.
    “The multiplying variety of arguments, especially frivolous ones, . . . but cumbers the memory.” Locke.
02 n. Trouble; embarrassment; distress.
  1. 1.
    Trouble; embarrassment; distress.[Obs.]
    “A place of much distraction and cumber.” Sir H. Wotton.
    “Sage counsel in cumber.” Sir W. Scott.