▪ I. impede, v.
(ɪmˈpiːd)
Also 7 impeide.
[ad. L. impedī-re, lit. to shackle the feet, f. im- (im-1) + pēs, ped-em foot.]
trans. To retard in progress or action by putting obstacles in the way; to obstruct; to hinder; to stand in the way of.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. v. 29 All that impeides thee from the Golden Round, Which Fate..doth seeme To haue thee crown'd withall. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 80 They would raise Objections on purpose to impede the Negotiation. c 1760 Smollett Ode to Leven-Water 8 No rocks impede thy dimpling course. 1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 546 Carbonic acid, instead of promoting, impedes the decomposition. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 514 Adverse winds had impeded his progess through the Straits of Gibraltar. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxii. 155 My load, light as it was, impeded me. |
b. Astrol. = impedite v. 2.
| 1819 [see impediment 4]. |
Hence imˈpeded ppl. a.; also imˈpeder, a person or thing that impedes.
| 1686 Goad Celest. Bodies i. xiv. 78 Frost..an impeder of their winter-marches. 1796–7 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 190 The positions I, K, L, M. show the passage of obstacles by the impeded parts filing or marching ranks by three's round them. |
▪ II. † imˈpede, n. Obs. rare.
[f. prec. vb.]
The act of impeding; hindrance, impediment.
| 1659 Lady Alimony v. vi. in Hazl. Dodsley XIV. 362 To prune those wild luxurious sprays, Which give impede unto this spreading vine. |