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Types of Speech Impediments

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Articulation Errors

Ankyloglossia, treating speech disorders.

A speech impediment, also known as a speech disorder , is a condition that can affect a person’s ability to form sounds and words, making their speech difficult to understand.

Speech disorders generally become evident in early childhood, as children start speaking and learning language. While many children initially have trouble with certain sounds and words, most are able to speak easily by the time they are five years old. However, some speech disorders persist. Approximately 5% of children aged three to 17 in the United States experience speech disorders.

There are many different types of speech impediments, including:

• Articulation errors

This article explores the causes, symptoms, and treatment of the different types of speech disorders.

Speech impediments that break the flow of speech are known as disfluencies. Stuttering is the most common form of disfluency, however there are other types as well.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Disfluencies

These are some of the characteristics of disfluencies:

• Repeating certain phrases, words, or sounds after the age of 4 (For example: “O…orange,” “I like…like orange juice,” “I want…I want orange juice”)
• Adding in extra sounds or words into sentences (For example: “We…uh…went to buy…um…orange juice”)
• Elongating words (For example: Saying “orange joooose” instead of "orange juice")
• Replacing words (For example: “What…Where is the orange juice?”)
• Hesitating while speaking (For example: A long pause while thinking)
• Pausing mid-speech (For example: Stopping abruptly mid-speech, due to lack of airflow, causing no sounds to come out, leading to a tense pause)

In addition, someone with disfluencies may also experience the following symptoms while speaking:

• Vocal tension and strain
• Head jerking
• Eye blinking
• Lip trembling

Causes of Disfluencies

People with disfluencies tend to have neurological differences in areas of the brain that control language processing and coordinate speech, which may be caused by:

• Genetic factors
• Trauma or infection to the brain
• Environmental stressors that cause anxiety or emotional distress
• Neurodevelopmental conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Articulation disorders occur when a person has trouble placing their tongue in the correct position to form certain speech sounds. Lisping is the most common type of articulation disorder.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Articulation Errors

These are some of the characteristics of articulation disorders:

• Substituting one sound for another . People typically have trouble with ‘r’ and ‘l’ sounds. (For example: Being unable to say “rabbit” and saying “wabbit” instead)
• Lisping , which refers specifically to difficulty with ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds. (For example: Saying “thugar” instead of “sugar” or producing a whistling sound while trying to pronounce these letters)
• Omitting sounds (For example: Saying “coo” instead of “school”)
• Adding sounds (For example: Saying “pinanio” instead of “piano”)
• Making other speech errors that can make it difficult to decipher what the person is saying. For instance, only family members may be able to understand what they’re trying to say.

Causes of Articulation Errors

Articulation errors may be caused by:

• Genetic factors, as it can run in families
• Hearing loss , as mishearing sounds can affect the person’s ability to reproduce the sound
• Changes in the bones or muscles that are needed for speech, including a cleft palate (a hole in the roof of the mouth) and tooth problems
• Damage to the nerves or parts of the brain that coordinate speech, caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy , for instance

Ankyloglossia, also known as tongue-tie, is a condition where the person’s tongue is attached to the bottom of their mouth. This can restrict the tongue’s movement and make it hard for the person to move their tongue.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Ankyloglossia

Ankyloglossia is characterized by difficulty pronouncing ‘d,’ ‘n,’ ‘s,’ ‘t,’ ‘th,’ and ‘z’ sounds that require the person’s tongue to touch the roof of their mouth or their upper teeth, as their tongue may not be able to reach there.

Apart from speech impediments, people with ankyloglossia may also experience other symptoms as a result of their tongue-tie. These symptoms include:

• Difficulty breastfeeding in newborns
• Trouble swallowing
• Limited ability to move the tongue from side to side or stick it out
• Difficulty with activities like playing wind instruments, licking ice cream, or kissing
• Mouth breathing

Causes of Ankyloglossia

Ankyloglossia is a congenital condition, which means it is present from birth. A tissue known as the lingual frenulum attaches the tongue to the base of the mouth. People with ankyloglossia have a shorter lingual frenulum, or it is attached further along their tongue than most people’s.

Dysarthria is a condition where people slur their words because they cannot control the muscles that are required for speech, due to brain, nerve, or organ damage.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Dysarthria

Dysarthria is characterized by:

• Slurred, choppy, or robotic speech
• Rapid, slow, or soft speech
• Breathy, hoarse, or nasal voice

Additionally, someone with dysarthria may also have other symptoms such as difficulty swallowing and inability to move their tongue, lips, or jaw easily.

Causes of Dysarthria

Dysarthria is caused by paralysis or weakness of the speech muscles. The causes of the weakness can vary depending on the type of dysarthria the person has:

• Central dysarthria is caused by brain damage. It may be the result of neuromuscular diseases, such as cerebral palsy, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Central dysarthria may also be caused by injuries or illnesses that damage the brain, such as dementia, stroke, brain tumor, or traumatic brain injury .
• Peripheral dysarthria is caused by damage to the organs involved in speech. It may be caused by congenital structural problems, trauma to the mouth or face, or surgery to the tongue, mouth, head, neck, or voice box.

Apraxia, also known as dyspraxia, verbal apraxia, or apraxia of speech, is a neurological condition that can cause a person to have trouble moving the muscles they need to create sounds or words. The person’s brain knows what they want to say, but is unable to plan and sequence the words accordingly.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Apraxia

These are some of the characteristics of apraxia:

• Distorting sounds: The person may have trouble pronouncing certain sounds, particularly vowels, because they may be unable to move their tongue or jaw in the manner required to produce the right sound. Longer or more complex words may be especially harder to manage.
• Being inconsistent in their speech: For instance, the person may be able to pronounce a word correctly once, but may not be able to repeat it. Or, they may pronounce it correctly today and differently on another day.
• Grasping for words: The person may appear to be searching for the right word or sound, or attempt the pronunciation several times before getting it right.
• Making errors with the rhythm or tone of speech: The person may struggle with using tone and inflection to communicate meaning. For instance, they may not stress any of the words in a sentence, have trouble going from one syllable in a word to another, or pause at an inappropriate part of a sentence.

Causes of Apraxia

Apraxia occurs when nerve pathways in the brain are interrupted, which can make it difficult for the brain to send messages to the organs involved in speaking. The causes of these neurological disturbances can vary depending on the type of apraxia the person has:

• Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS): This condition is present from birth and is often hereditary. A person may be more likely to have it if a biological relative has a learning disability or communication disorder.
• Acquired apraxia of speech (AOS): This condition can occur in adults, due to brain damage as a result of a tumor, head injury , stroke, or other illness that affects the parts of the brain involved in speech.

If you have a speech impediment, or suspect your child might have one, it can be helpful to visit your healthcare provider. Your primary care physician can refer you to a speech-language pathologist, who can evaluate speech, diagnose speech disorders, and recommend treatment options.

The diagnostic process may involve a physical examination as well as psychological, neurological, or hearing tests, in order to confirm the diagnosis and rule out other causes.

Treatment for speech disorders often involves speech therapy, which can help you learn how to move your muscles and position your tongue correctly in order to create specific sounds. It can be quite effective in improving your speech.

Children often grow out of milder speech disorders; however, special education and speech therapy can help with more serious ones.

For ankyloglossia, or tongue-tie, a minor surgery known as a frenectomy can help detach the tongue from the bottom of the mouth.

A Word From Verywell

A speech impediment can make it difficult to pronounce certain sounds, speak clearly, or communicate fluently. 

Living with a speech disorder can be frustrating because people may cut you off while you’re speaking, try to finish your sentences, or treat you differently. It can be helpful to talk to your healthcare providers about how to cope with these situations.

You may also benefit from joining a support group, where you can connect with others living with speech disorders.

National Library of Medicine. Speech disorders . Medline Plus.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Language and speech disorders .

Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Stuttering .

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Quick statistics about voice, speech, and language .

Cleveland Clinic. Speech impediment .

Lee H, Sim H, Lee E, Choi D. Disfluency characteristics of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms . J Commun Disord . 2017;65:54-64. doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2016.12.001

Nemours Foundation. Speech problems .

Penn Medicine. Speech and language disorders .

Cleveland Clinic. Tongue-tie .

University of Rochester Medical Center. Ankyloglossia .

Cleveland Clinic. Dysarthria .

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Apraxia of speech .

Cleveland Clinic. Childhood apraxia of speech .

Stanford Children’s Hospital. Speech sound disorders in children .

Abbastabar H, Alizadeh A, Darparesh M, Mohseni S, Roozbeh N. Spatial distribution and the prevalence of speech disorders in the provinces of Iran . J Med Life . 2015;8(Spec Iss 2):99-104.

By Sanjana Gupta Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

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Overcoming Speech Impediment: Symptoms to Treatment

There are many causes and solutions for impaired speech

• Types and Symptoms
• Speech Therapy
• Building Confidence

Speech impediments are conditions that can cause a variety of symptoms, such as an inability to understand language or speak with a stable sense of tone, speed, or fluidity. There are many different types of speech impediments, and they can begin during childhood or develop during adulthood.

Common causes include physical trauma, neurological disorders, or anxiety. If you or your child is experiencing signs of a speech impediment, you need to know that these conditions can be diagnosed and treated with professional speech therapy.

This article will discuss what you can do if you are concerned about a speech impediment and what you can expect during your diagnostic process and therapy.

FG Trade / Getty Images

Types and Symptoms of Speech Impediment

People can have speech problems due to developmental conditions that begin to show symptoms during early childhood or as a result of conditions that may occur during adulthood. 

The main classifications of speech impairment are aphasia (difficulty understanding or producing the correct words or phrases) or dysarthria (difficulty enunciating words).

Often, speech problems can be part of neurological or neurodevelopmental disorders that also cause other symptoms, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) or autism spectrum disorder .

There are several different symptoms of speech impediments, and you may experience one or more.

Can Symptoms Worsen?

Most speech disorders cause persistent symptoms and can temporarily get worse when you are tired, anxious, or sick.

Symptoms of dysarthria can include:

• Slurred speech
• Slow speech
• Choppy speech
• Hesitant speech
• Inability to control the volume of your speech
• Shaking or tremulous speech pattern
• Inability to pronounce certain sounds

Symptoms of aphasia may involve:

• Speech apraxia (difficulty coordinating speech)
• Difficulty understanding the meaning of what other people are saying
• Inability to use the correct words
• Inability to repeat words or phases
• Speech that has an irregular rhythm

You can have one or more of these speech patterns as part of your speech impediment, and their combination and frequency will help determine the type and cause of your speech problem.

Causes of Speech Impediment

The conditions that cause speech impediments can include developmental problems that are present from birth, neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease , or sudden neurological events, such as a stroke .

Some people can also experience temporary speech impairment due to anxiety, intoxication, medication side effects, postictal state (the time immediately after a seizure), or a change of consciousness.

Speech Impairment in Children

Children can have speech disorders associated with neurodevelopmental problems, which can interfere with speech development. Some childhood neurological or neurodevelopmental disorders may cause a regression (backsliding) of speech skills.

Common causes of childhood speech impediments include:

• Autism spectrum disorder : A neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social and interactive development
• Cerebral palsy :  A congenital (from birth) disorder that affects learning and control of physical movement
• Hearing loss : Can affect the way children hear and imitate speech
• Rett syndrome : A genetic neurodevelopmental condition that causes regression of physical and social skills beginning during the early school-age years.
• Adrenoleukodystrophy : A genetic disorder that causes a decline in motor and cognitive skills beginning during early childhood
• Childhood metabolic disorders : A group of conditions that affects the way children break down nutrients, often resulting in toxic damage to organs
• Brain tumor : A growth that may damage areas of the brain, including those that control speech or language
• Encephalitis : Brain inflammation or infection that may affect the way regions in the brain function
• Hydrocephalus : Excess fluid within the skull, which may develop after brain surgery and can cause brain damage

Do Childhood Speech Disorders Persist?

Speech disorders during childhood can have persistent effects throughout life. Therapy can often help improve speech skills.

Speech Impairment in Adulthood

Adult speech disorders develop due to conditions that damage the speech areas of the brain.

Common causes of adult speech impairment include:

• Head trauma 
• Nerve injury
• Throat tumor
• Stroke 
• Parkinson’s disease 
• Essential tremor
• Brain tumor
• Brain infection

Additionally, people may develop changes in speech with advancing age, even without a specific neurological cause. This can happen due to presbyphonia , which is a change in the volume and control of speech due to declining hormone levels and reduced elasticity and movement of the vocal cords.

Do Speech Disorders Resolve on Their Own?

Children and adults who have persistent speech disorders are unlikely to experience spontaneous improvement without therapy and should seek professional attention.

Steps to Treating Speech Impediment 

If you or your child has a speech impediment, your healthcare providers will work to diagnose the type of speech impediment as well as the underlying condition that caused it. Defining the cause and type of speech impediment will help determine your prognosis and treatment plan.

Sometimes the cause is known before symptoms begin, as is the case with trauma or MS. Impaired speech may first be a symptom of a condition, such as a stroke that causes aphasia as the primary symptom.

The diagnosis will include a comprehensive medical history, physical examination, and a thorough evaluation of speech and language. Diagnostic testing is directed by the medical history and clinical evaluation.

Diagnostic testing may include:

• Brain imaging , such as brain computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic residence imaging (MRI), if there’s concern about a disease process in the brain
• Swallowing evaluation if there’s concern about dysfunction of the muscles in the throat
• Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (aka nerve conduction velocity, or NCV) if there’s concern about nerve and muscle damage
• Blood tests, which can help in diagnosing inflammatory disorders or infections

Your diagnostic tests will help pinpoint the cause of your speech problem. Your treatment will include specific therapy to help improve your speech, as well as medication or other interventions to treat the underlying disorder.

For example, if you are diagnosed with MS, you would likely receive disease-modifying therapy to help prevent MS progression. And if you are diagnosed with a brain tumor, you may need surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation to treat the tumor.

Therapy to Address Speech Impediment

Therapy for speech impairment is interactive and directed by a specialist who is experienced in treating speech problems . Sometimes, children receive speech therapy as part of a specialized learning program at school.

The duration and frequency of your speech therapy program depend on the underlying cause of your impediment, your improvement, and approval from your health insurance.

If you or your child has a serious speech problem, you may qualify for speech therapy. Working with your therapist can help you build confidence, particularly as you begin to see improvement.

Exercises during speech therapy may include:

• Pronouncing individual sounds, such as la la la or da da da
• Practicing pronunciation of words that you have trouble pronouncing
• Adjusting the rate or volume of your speech
• Mouth exercises
• Practicing language skills by naming objects or repeating what the therapist is saying

These therapies are meant to help achieve more fluent and understandable speech as well as an increased comfort level with speech and language.

Building Confidence With Speech Problems 

Some types of speech impairment might not qualify for therapy. If you have speech difficulties due to anxiety or a social phobia or if you don’t have access to therapy, you might benefit from activities that can help you practice your speech. 

You might consider one or more of the following for you or your child:

• Joining a local theater group
• Volunteering in a school or community activity that involves interaction with the public
• Signing up for a class that requires a significant amount of class participation
• Joining a support group for people who have problems with speech

Activities that you do on your own to improve your confidence with speaking can be most beneficial when you are in a non-judgmental and safe space.

Many different types of speech problems can affect children and adults. Some of these are congenital (present from birth), while others are acquired due to health conditions, medication side effects, substances, or mood and anxiety disorders. Because there are so many different types of speech problems, seeking a medical diagnosis so you can get the right therapy for your specific disorder is crucial.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Language and speech disorders in children .

Han C, Tang J, Tang B, et al. The effectiveness and safety of noninvasive brain stimulation technology combined with speech training on aphasia after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis . Medicine (Baltimore). 2024;103(2):e36880. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000036880

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Quick statistics about voice, speech, language .

Mackey J, McCulloch H, Scheiner G, et al. Speech pathologists' perspectives on the use of augmentative and alternative communication devices with people with acquired brain injury and reflections from lived experience . Brain Impair. 2023;24(2):168-184. doi:10.1017/BrImp.2023.9

Allison KM, Doherty KM. Relation of speech-language profile and communication modality to participation of children with cerebral palsy . Am J Speech Lang Pathol . 2024:1-11. doi:10.1044/2023_AJSLP-23-00267

Saccente-Kennedy B, Gillies F, Desjardins M, et al. A systematic review of speech-language pathology interventions for presbyphonia using the rehabilitation treatment specification system . J Voice. 2024:S0892-1997(23)00396-X. doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.12.010

By Heidi Moawad, MD Dr. Moawad is a neurologist and expert in brain health. She regularly writes and edits health content for medical books and publications.

Five Common Speech Disorders in Children

You have determined that your child has more than just a speech delay, now what? How do you determine what kind of speech disorder your child has and more importantly, what do you do about it? We have listed below five common speech disorders in children. Of course, we always recommend a visit to your pediatrician if you feel your child has any of these symptoms, and an appointment with an SLP may be necessary to begin an effective speech therapy treatment plan.

5 Common Speech Disorders in Children:

Articulation Disorder: An articulation disorder is a speech sound disorder in which a child has difficulty making certain sounds correctly.  Sounds may be omitted or improperly altered during the course of speech. A child may substitute sounds (“wabbit” instead of “rabbit”) or add sounds improperly to words. Young children will typically display articulation issues as they learn to speak, but they are expected to “grow out of it” by a certain age.  If the errors persist past a standard developmental age, which varies based on the sound, then that child has an articulation disorder.

The most common articulation disorders are in the form of a “lisp” – when a child does not pronounce the S sound correctly – or when a child cannot pronounce the R sound correctly. He may say “wabbit” instead of “rabbit” or “buhd” or instead of “bird.”

Apraxia of Speech is a communication disorder affecting the motor programming system for speech production.  Speech production is difficult – specifically with sequencing and forming sounds. The person may know what he wants to say, but there is a disruption in the part of the brain that sends the signal to the muscle for the movement necessary to produce the sound.  That leads to problems with articulation as well as intonation and speaking stress and rhythm errors. Apraxia of Speech can be discovered in childhood (CAS), or might be acquired (AOS) resulting from a brain injury or illness in both children and adults.

Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is an inherited genetic disorder that is the most common cause of inherited intellectual disabilities in boys as well as  autism  (about 30% of children with FXS will have autism). It also affects girls, though their symptoms tend to be milder. It is greatly under-recognized and second only to  Down syndrome  in causing intellectual impairment.

FXS occurs when there is a mutation of FMRI gene and is an inherited disorder.  If a child received a pre-mutated X chromosome from one of his parents (as a carrier), then he is at greater risk of developing FXS.  Diagnosing Fragile X Syndrome is not easy for parents and doctors at the beginning of a child’s life.  Few outward signs are noticeable within the first 9 months. These signs may include an elongated face and protruding eyes.

Intellectual disabilities, speech and language problems, and social anxiety occur most frequently in children with Fragile X. Speech symptoms include repetition of words and phrases, cluttered speech and difficulties with the pragmatics of speech. All of FXS’s symptoms can range from mild to very severe.

Stuttering occurs when speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions, prolonging of sounds and hesitation or pausing before speech. Stuttering can be developmental, meaning it begins during early speech acquisition, or acquired due to brain trauma. No one knows the exact causes of stuttering in a child.  It is considered to have a genetic basis, but the direct link has not yet been found. Children with relatives who stutter are 3 times as likely to develop stuttering. Stuttering is also more typical in children who have congenital disorders like  cerebral palsy .

A child who stutters is typically not struggling with the actual production of the sounds—stress and a nervousness trigger many cases of stuttering. Stuttering is variable, meaning if the speaker does not feel anxious when speaking, the stuttering may not affect their speech.

Language disorders can be classified in three different ways: Expressive Language Disorder (ELD), Receptive Language Disorder (RLD) or Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder (ERLD).  Children with Expressive Language Disorder do not have problems producing sounds or words, but have an inability to retrieve the right words and formulate proper sentences. Children with Receptive Language Disorder have difficulties comprehending spoken and written language. Finally, children with Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder will exhibit both kinds of symptoms. Grammar is a hard concept for them to understand and they may not use of articles (a, the), prepositions (of, with) and plurals. An early symptom is delay in the early stages of language, so if your child takes longer to formulate words or starting to babble, it can be a sign of ELD.

Children with Receptive Language Disorder may act like they are ignoring you or just repeat words that you say; this is known as “echolalia.” Even when repeating the words you say, they may not understand.  An example of this is if you say, “Do you want to go to the park?” and they respond with the exact phrase and do not answer the question. They may not understand you or the fact that you asked them to do something.

Children with Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder can have a mix of these symptoms

These are some of the most common speech disorders in children. No child is the same and you know your child best. If you feel that your child has a speech disorder, contact your pediatrician to discuss treatment options.

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Speech and language problems: Ages 5 to 8

What to expect when

Mispronunciation, childhood apraxia of speech, when to seek help.

Children learn to talk at different speeds, so don't be surprised if your child isn't using the same vocabulary or expressions as playmates the same age. However, there are some general guidelines for typical speech and language development.

By age 5, your child should:

• Pronounce all the sounds of speech (though sounds like l , s , r , v , z , ch , sh , and th might still be tricky).
• Respond when asked, "What did you say?"
• Name letters and numbers.
• Use more than one verb in a sentence, such as, "I got my ball and played with Freddy."
• Tell short stories.
• Maintain a conversation.
• Tailor the way she talks to suit different listeners and places, like using shorter sentences with younger kids or a louder voice when playing outside.

By the end of first grade, your child should:

• Be easy to understand.
• Ask and answer wh questions – who, what, when, where, and why.
• Tell stories and talk about events in a logical order.
• Use varied, complete sentences.
• Use correct grammar most of the time.
• Initiate and maintain conversations, taking turns speaking.
• Give and follow directions with two and three steps.

By the end of second grade, your child also should:

• Be able to explain words and ideas.
• Use speech to inform, persuade, and engage with other people.
• Use more complex sentences.
• Take turns, stay on topic, and use eye contact during conversations.
• Give and follow directions with three and four steps.

Some children still have trouble getting ideas across or have other language difficulties that might affect their ability to learn important new skills, such as reading and writing .

Some children still have minor pronunciation problems at this age. Here are a few common ones you might hear:

• Your child might mix up words with multiple syllables, such as "manimal" for "animal," or "pasghetti" for "spaghetti."
• Some kids still struggle with a few tricky consonant sounds. Your child may say a w or a y for an l ("yeg" instead of "leg") or use w for r ("wabbit" instead of "rabbit") or substitute an f for a th ("baf" instead of "bath"). Diane Paul, director of clinical issues in speech-language pathology for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association says, "Some of these sounds may not be speech errors at all, but just differences in an accent or dialect."

What you can do: When your child stumbles over long words, resist the urge to correct his speech. Just model the right pronunciation when it's your turn to talk. So instead of saying, "It's spaghetti, not pasghetti!" you can say, "Yes, we're having spaghetti for dinner."

These minor pronunciation problems may not be cause for concern, and most children can say all speech sounds by age 7. However, don't wait and hope your child will outgrow speech sound errors. A speech-language pathologist can help and the earlier, the better.

Your child may lisp or pronounce the s sound like a th , so that "My sister is seven" becomes "My thithter ith theven." Another common variation is to pronounce the z sound like a th , as in "thoo" for "zoo," and "eethee" for "easy."

What you can do: If your child still has a lisp by age 5, it's a good idea to make an appointment with a speech-language pathologist rather than continue waiting to see if your child outgrows it. The specialist will take a detailed history, check your child's mouth's structure and function, and get a speech and language sample to study. Often the problem can be resolved in a short time.

Also, make sure your child can breathe comfortably, and treat any allergy, cold, or sinus problems so your child can breathe through her nose with her lips together. An open-mouth breathing posture causes the tongue to lie flat and protrude. A stuffy nose is often the cause, so work on nose-blowing too.

Most people (adults and children alike) stutter from time to time, often when they're nervous or rushed. Examples of stuttering include:

• Repeating part of a word, as in, "W-w-w-where are you going?"
• Prolonging a sound, as in, "Ssssit down in the chair."
• Inserting interjections and having difficulty completing a sentence, as in, "I want to – um, um, um, you know, um – go outside."

Most kids outgrow stuttering before age 5. But some kids continue to stutter, and the reason why is unclear. Sometimes stuttering grows more severe over time, or it may vary quite a bit from day to day.

It's a good idea to make an appointment with an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist Opens a new window if your child stutters regularly. The speech-language pathologist will do an evaluation to determine whether your child's stutter is likely to continue and can work with your child on therapy that will lessen the severity of stuttering.

A speech-language pathologist also can help if you see tension in your child's jaw or cheeks, or if he looks away, clenches his fist from tension, blinks repeatedly, grimaces, or stomps his feet in frustration trying to get the words out.

What you can do: Be patient. Resist the urge to finish your child's sentences or fill in words for him. Suggestions like "relax" or "slow down" aren't really helpful and can make your child feel even more pressure to get his words out.

Keep giving your child your attention. You may feel like looking away while your child tries to talk to give him time to calm down and make it easier to speak, but that might actually make him feel more rushed or even ashamed.

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a disorder of the nervous system that affects a child's ability to say sounds, syllables, and words. With CAS, the brain has trouble telling the lips, jaw, and tongue what to do in order to produce speech. A child with CAS knows what she wants to say but can't make the sounds come out correctly and consistently.

If your child has CAS she may do any of the following:

• She makes inconsistent pronunciation errors that aren't due to her not knowing how to say the sounds yet.
• She can understand language much better than she can speak.
• She has trouble imitating speech, but her imitated speech is clearer than her spontaneous speech.
• She appears to struggle when she tries to make sounds or coordinate her lips, tongue, and jaw to speak.
• She has more trouble saying longer words and phrases than shorter ones.
• She has more difficulty speaking when she's anxious.
• She's hard to understand, especially for someone who doesn't know her.
• Her speech sounds choppy or monotonous, or stresses the wrong syllable or word.

If your child shows signs of CAS, it's important to make an appointment with a speech-language pathologist as soon as possible. Most kids with CAS will need professional therapy to be able to speak clearly.

What you can do: Talk slowly but naturally. Let your child take her time when she tries to speak. Your child's speech-language pathologist may have more tips for you to try at home.

If you're worried about your child's speech and language development, give your child's doctor a call or make an appointment with an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist Opens a new window . You may find you have nothing to worry about, but that's for a speech and language professional to determine. Also seek help if your child fits any of the following descriptions:

• Your child rarely asks questions or often lets adults do most of the talking, speaks only in short phrases and sentences, or seldom adds additional information to a story.
• Your child can't find the right word to express what he means – for instance, he may substitute words with related meanings ("cake" for "cupcake"), substitute words with similar sounds ("knob" for "knock"), or substitute visually related words ("clock" for "watch").
• Your child talks around words ("something we eat on" for table) or frequently says "thing" or "stuff" instead of using specific words.
• Your child uses long pauses between words and sentences.
• Your child drools when he mispronounces words or has difficulty eating or swallowing. (If this is the case, talk with his doctor.)
• Your child has trouble pronouncing many sounds or has trouble expressing himself. This could lead to reading, writing, and spelling difficulties if the problem isn't addressed.

In addition, if you have any concern that your child may have a speech or language delay due to a hearing loss, call his doctor, ask for a hearing evaluation by an audiologist at his school, or make an appointment with an ASHA-certified audiologist.

How to help your child develop a good vocabulary

Fun activities to promote speaking skills

How to make reading aloud fun

This article was reviewed by Diane Paul, director of clinical issues in speech-language-pathology for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Visit the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's website Opens a new window for more information or to find an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist near you.

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Common speech and language problems in children

BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. When creating and updating content, we rely on credible sources: respected health organizations, professional groups of doctors and other experts, and published studies in peer-reviewed journals. We believe you should always know the source of the information you're seeing. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies .

ASHA. Undated. How does your child hear and talk: Four to five years. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/45.htm Opens a new window [Accessed July 2016]

ASHA. Undated. Your child's communication: Kindergarten. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.   http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/kindergarten/ Opens a new window [Accessed July 2016]

ASHA. Undated. Your child's communication: First grade. American Speech-Language-Hearing-Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/firstgrade/ Opens a new window [Accessed July 2016]

ASHA. Undated. Your child's communication: Second grade. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/secondgrade/ Opens a new window [Accessed July 2016]

ASHA. Undated. Stuttering. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/stuttering.htm Opens a new window [Accessed July 2016]

ASHA. Undated. Speech sound disorders: Articulation and phonological processes. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/SpeechSoundDisorders/ Opens a new window [Accessed July 2016]

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Definition of impediment

Did you know.

Impediment comes from a Latin verb that meant "to interfere with" or "to get in the way of progress", as if by tripping up the feet of someone walking. In English, impediment still suggests an obstruction or obstacle along a path; for example, a lack of adequate roads and bridges would be called an impediment to economic development. Impediments usually get in the way of something we want. So we may speak of an impediment to communication, marriage, or progress--but something that slows the progress of aging, disease, or decay is rarely called an impediment.

• embarrassment
• encumbrance
• interference
• obstruction
• stumbling block

Examples of impediment in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'impediment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing impediment

• speech impediment

Articles Related to impediment

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Dictionary Entries Near impediment

impedient impediment

impedimenta

Cite this Entry

“Impediment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impediment. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of impediment, medical definition, medical definition of impediment, legal definition, legal definition of impediment, more from merriam-webster on impediment.

Nglish: Translation of impediment for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of impediment for Arabic Speakers

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impediment in a sentence

• a speech impediment
• The principal decided that Brian and I were both a bit slow and had speech impediments that made it difficult for others to understand us.   (source) Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle , 2005 impediments = something that interferes with action or progress
• You wouldn't think there is anything life threatening about speech impediments , but let me tell you, there is nothing more dangerous than being a kid with a stutter and a lisp.   (source) Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian , 2007 impediments = things that interfere with action
• Tyler's speech impediment kept him quiet, made his tongue heavy.†   (source) Tara Westover, Educated , 2018
• Dr. Fiona said it was likely I would have a speech impediment and a weak right arm and right leg, so I would need extensive rehabilitation facilities, which Pakistan didn't have.†   (source) Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala , 2013
• True, I was an impediment , but rumours of a separation had been squashed.†   (source) Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin , 2000
• She seemed to be giving me as hostile a signal as she dared that I was an impediment to her relationship with Cassie, and she hated me for it.†   (source) Misty Bernall, She Said Yes , 1999
• He had a speech impediment that caused him to stutter badly.†   (source) Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy , 2014
• We were going to do the Impediment Curse!†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , 2000
• It was endearing; so was his slight stutter, because it made us nervous for him—afraid for him, should he have his eloquence snatched from him and be struck down with a crippling speech impediment .†   (source) John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany , 1989
• Attaining adulthood was all about the eager acceptance of such impediments .†   (source) Ian McEwan, Atonement , 2001
• But halfway through the round, my arms became impediments .†   (source) Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running , 1992
• Many could not read, which was a serious impediment now that I habitually read to Suleiman late in the afternoons.†   (source) Khaled Hosseini, And The Mountains Echoed , 2013
• Brady West-water, a downtown resident who has known Adams for years, thinks the brain injury has exaggerated a speech impediment , making Adams speak a little slower than before.†   (source) Steve Lopez, The Soloist , 1995
• WITHOUT WORK there was no impediment to Saeed and Nadia meeting during the day except for the fighting, but that impediment was a serious one.†   (source) Moshin Hamid, Exit West , 2017
• I was thinking at that moment, wordlessly and rather deeply, how sublime friendship between Lestat and me might have been; how few impediments to it there would have been, and how much to be shared.†   (source) Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire , 1976
• Hiro has to slow down a little bit here because the Refus are all sleeping on the street for the time being, an impediment to traffic.†   (source) Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash , 1992
• Above that point, there begin to be structural impediments to the ability of the group to agree and act with one voice.†   (source) Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point , 2000
• After studying the subject for several days, she was persuaded that there were no technical impediments to making short work of her guardian.†   (source) Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , 2008
• Not counting Holy week, Sundays, holy days of obligation, first Fridays, retreats, sacrifices, and cyclical impediments , her effective year was reduced to forty-two days that were spread out through a web of purple crosses.†   (source) Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude , 1967
• And yet, despite all the impediments and all the time that had passed, they were still deeply in love.†   (source) Kiera Cass, The Heir , 2015
• The fact that he knew absolutely nothing about either mountaineering or flying didn't strike him as a major impediment .†   (source) Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air , 1997
• Aid groups are also reluctant to acknowledge mistakes, partly because frank discussion of blunders is an impediment in soliciting contributions.†   (source) Nicholas D. Kristof, Half the Sky , 2009
• The glaring gaps that in a bowel repair could have been fatal were overlooked when they occurred in such a personality; they weren't an impediment to him, only an irritation to others.†   (source) Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone , 2009
• The only actual change that had come over him in the past years was that, for some reason, his impediment had gotten worse.†   (source) William Goldman, The Princess Bride , 1973
• A Loyalist newspaper in New York had already set the scene in a report published the day before : It is said by some persons who have lately seen the rebel forces that they are the most pitiable collection of ragged, dispirited mortals that ever pretended to the name of an army ...and that if the weather continues fair but a little longer, there is no visible impediment to His Majesty's troops in completing a march to the capitol of Pennsylvania.†   (source) David McCullough, 1776 , 2005
• Zanmi Lasante's community health workers, who lived among the peasant farmers, who had been until recently mostly peasant farmers themselves, spoke about the economic impediments to treatment, pointing out that the poorest patients tended to fare worst, certainly in part because of malnutrition.†   (source) Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains , 2003
• Now, a clever young Sorcerer might realize this and seek such a thing and spread its seeds about the land as an impediment to my kin.†   (source) Henry H. Neff, The Fiend And The Forge , 2010
• Discord need not be an impediment .†   (source) Libba Bray, Sweet Far Thing , 2007
• And it was the darkness that Jason Bourne craved; it was his friend and ally, the blackness in which he moved swiftly, with sure feet and alert hands and arms that served as sensors against all the impediments of nature.†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum , 1990
• Excellent—the more impediments to legislation the better.†   (source) Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress , 1966
• Galt felt the small pressure of the muzzle against his side; the pressure was expertly maintained: not to be felt as an impediment and not to be forgotten for a moment.†   (source) Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged , 1957
• When he spoke, it was with a heavy speech impediment , like he had a mouth full of sandwich.†   (source) Katherine Applegate, Everworld - Search For Senna , 1999
• As General Sam Grant glibly described Stanton: "He was an able constitutional lawyer and jurist, but the Constitution was not an impediment to him while the war lasted."†   (source) Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Lincoln , 2011
• The tremor in her voice amounted now almost to an impediment .†   (source) J. D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey , 1957
• It wasn't clear at first as to what the bulletin was about, since the announcer, like all announcers, had a serious speech impediment .†   (source) Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron , 1961
• Thank goodness she didn't ask me to define " impediment " or explain "his bending sickle's compass come."†   (source) Kaye Gibbons, My Mother, Literature, and a Life Split Neatly into Two Halves , 1988
• When Tom was nine years old he worried because his pretty little sister Mollie had an impediment in her speech.†   (source) John Steinbeck, East of Eden , 1952
• This time there would be no impediments ; the crazy bliss of fornication with a hot-skinned, eager-bellied Jewish girl with fathomless eyes and magnificent apricot-and-ocher suntanned legs that all but promised to squeeze the life out of me was no dumb fantasy: it was a fait accompli, practically consummated save for the terrible wait until Thursday.†   (source) William Styron, Sophie's Choice , 1976
• Of mongrel dogs, cats, partihued pigs, chickens, and pigeons—all normal impediments to navigation on the streets of Pistolville—no trace remained.†   (source) Pat Frank, Alas, Babylon , 1959
• He did not have a speech impediment; he had five impediments .†   (source) Pat Conroy, The Water is Wide , 1972
• He was a murderer whose final stroke was over-long postponed, who had to bring himself through the greatest tedium to act, as if the whole wilderness, where he was born, were his impediment .†   (source) Eudora Welty, The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty , 1955
• It is time to put an end to so many evils; and I have made the motion to move the indefinite postponement of this unmanageable mass of incongruous bills, each an impediment to the other, that they may be taken up one by one to receive the decision which their respective merits require.†   (source) John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage , 1955
• Personal animosity has become an impediment to progress.
• One of the impediments to constructing a health system is the shortage of doctors in rural Africa.†   (source) Nicholas D. Kristof, Half the Sky , 2009
• One of the trial batch of kids had manifested a tendency to sprout long whiskers and scramble up the curtains; a couple of the others had vocal-expression impediments ; one of them had been limited to nouns, verbs, and roaring.†   (source) Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake , 2003
• And what were the impediments exactly?†   (source) Ian McEwan, Atonement , 2001
• If for any reason whatsoever there is the slightest possibility that even one of those killers is ordered to return here, there can be no impediments .†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum , 1990
• I wanted the kids to get the feel of a hill, the sensation of height in nature, and wanted them to know the joy of clambering among rocks and hearing water rushing through narrow gorges and leaping over impediments on the way to the sea.†   (source) Pat Conroy, The Water is Wide , 1972
• He had a severe speech impediment and couldn't get his mouth to cooperate.†   (source) Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy , 2014
• People might think she'd been mistreated, and this could become a serious impediment .†   (source) Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin , 2000
• Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off.†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , 2003
• "I like the look of this one," she said, "this Impediment Curse.†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , 2000
• The noise of the crowd was an impediment .†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Supremacy , 1986
• He would only be an impediment , and the impostor came first...Marie came first.†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Supremacy , 1986
• Another impediment is that maternal health just doesn't have an international constituency.†   (source) Nicholas D. Kristof, Half the Sky , 2009
• Long legs are no advantage here, only an impediment , which I happen to know.†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum , 1990
• Like I told Armbruster before he became another big impediment for you, we got doctors, too.†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum , 1990
• I won't give the usual warning because we all know that no impediment exists to this union.†   (source) Robert A. Heinlein, Tunnel In the Sky , 1955
• He did not have a speech impediment ; he had five impediments.†   (source) Pat Conroy, The Water is Wide , 1972
• Dr. Jordan had indeed fully intended to prepare such a report; but he was called away suddenly by a family illness, followed by urgent business on the Continent; after which the outbreak of the Civil War, in which he served in the capacity of a military surgeon, was a serious impediment to his efforts.†   (source) Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace , 1996
• We'll start with the Impediment Jinx, for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again.'†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , 2003
• They marvel at my courage and nobility the way people do those who have overcome a physical deformity or maybe a crippling speech impediment .†   (source) Khaled Hosseini, And The Mountains Echoed , 2013
• After ten minutes on the Impediment Jinx, they laid out cushions all over the floor and started practising Stunning again.†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , 2003
• Good training for when we're all Aurors," said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it stop dead in midair.†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , 2000
• I require and charge you both, as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts will be disclosed, that if either of you know of any impediment , why ye may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, ye do now confess it.†   (source) Ian McEwan, Atonement , 2001
• Panting, Harry pushed himself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction — the Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment.†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , 2000
• It seemed to have been her who had hit him with the Impediment Jinx; she was holding her whistle in one hand and a wand in the other; her broom lay abandoned several feet away.†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , 2003
• Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze.†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , 2000
• 'Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx,' said Ron airily, now handing back Hermione's wand, too.†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , 2003
• He and the DA were resisting her under her very nose, doing the very thing she and the Ministry most feared, and whenever he was supposed to be reading Wilbert Slinkhard's book during her lessons he dwelled instead on satisfying memories of their most recent meetings, remembering how Neville had successfully disarmed Hermione, how Colin Creevey had mastered the Impediment Jinx after three meetings' hard effort, how Parvati Patil had produced such a good Reductor Curse that she had reduced the table carrying all the Sneakoscopes to dust.†   (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , 2003
• But his tongue wasn't paralyzed, his eye was photographic, and the savage way in which he could analyze and criticize what he had seen made up for his minor impediment .†   (source) Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers , 1959
• If your dearest friend had not abilities to render such important services tohis country, he would not be called...I know your public spirit and fortitude to be such that you will throw no impediment in his way.†   (source) David McCullough, John Adams , 2002
• "Very well," he said, "the impediment seems to be the counterclaim that the Moon belongs to the Federated Nations—as it always has—under supervision of the Lunar Authority.†   (source) Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress , 1966
• You grew up to believe that moral laws bear no relation to the job of living, except as an impediment and threat, that man's existence is an amoral jungle where anything goes and anything works.†   (source) Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged , 1957
• Lord Carmarthen readily agreed that by the Paris Treaty His Majesty's armed forces were to depart from the United States "with all convenient speed," but, as he liked also to point out, the same treaty stipulated that creditors on either side "shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling of all bona fide debts."†   (source) David McCullough, John Adams , 2002
• One impediment for women planning to run for political office in Kenya is the cost of round-the-clock security.†   (source) Nicholas D. Kristof, Half the Sky , 2009
• So we get rid of the impediment and put the cannoli, this Jason Bourne, who's not all there, in everybody's gun sights, right?†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum , 1990
• His neck was more an irritant now than an impediment ; either he was adjusting to the stiff, restricted movement or the healing process was doing its mysterious work.†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum , 1990
• And there this Bourne is in Paris, France, a couple of blocks away from a real big impediment , a fancy general the quiet boys across the river want taken out, like the two fatsoes already planted.†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum , 1990
• She's an impediment .†   (source) Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum , 1990
• At the end of the dark street a smudge of smoke plumed away from what looked like a warehouse, but the fire trucks just below, stalled by some nameless impediment , kept releasing skyward their unbelievable blasts.†   (source) William Styron, Sophie's Choice , 1976
• During a phonics rally, Fred suddenly started crying when Jasper teased him about his speech impediment .†   (source) Pat Conroy, The Water is Wide , 1972
• She saw her father's face, with its bold brow, and reverend white beard that flowed over the old-fashioned Elizabethan ruff; her mother's, too, with the look of heedful and anxious love which it always wore in her remembrance, and which, even since her death, had so often laid the impediment of a gentle remonstrance in her daughter's pathway.†   (source) Nathanial Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter , 1850
• The second-hander contributed nothing to the process except the impediments .†   (source) Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead , 1943
• Clearly her mind has by no means 'consumed all impediments and become incandescent'.†   (source) Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own , 1928
• That was how Shakespeare wrote, I thought, looking at ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA; and when people compare Shakespeare and Jane Austen, they may mean that the minds of both had consumed all impediments ; and for that reason we do not know Jane Austen and we do not know Shakespeare, and for that reason Jane Austen pervades every word that she wrote, and so does Shakespeare.†   (source) Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own , 1928
• If I tell you one thing, you will be so amiable as to set aside all impediments .†   (source) Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo , 1846
• Manners aim to facilitate life, to get rid of impediments , and bring the man pure to energize.†   (source) Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected Essays , 1850
• Yet because of the impediments of this situation she knew that he must be having a difficult time thinking of any way by which he could say anything to her.†   (source) Theodore Dreiser, An American Tragedy , 1925
• The lawyer had told him, as he talked to him, that that was something unheard of and would probably do him a great deal of harm, but K. could not tolerate any impediment to his efforts where his trial was concerned, and these impediments were probably caused by the lawyer himself.†   (source) Franz Kafka, The Trial , 1925
• But there was no way; to keep to one direction, the approximate direction of home and the valley, was more a matter of luck than sense, because although he could sometimes just make out his hand in front of his face, he never once saw the tips of his skis; and had he been able to see better, there were still plenty of other impediments to frustrate his progress: snow full in the face, a norm as an adversary that robbed you of air and constantly forced you to turn and snatch for a breath—how could any man, be he Hans Castorp or someone much stronger, have made any progress here?†   (source) Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain , 1924
• We were, however, well aware of having made farther to the southward than any previous navigators, and felt great amazement at not meeting with the usual impediments of ice.†   (source) Edgar Allan Poe, MS. Found in a Bottle , 1850
• He had two selves within him apparently, and they must learn to accommodate each other and bear reciprocal impediments .†   (source) George Eliot, Middlemarch , 1872
• I had gazed upon the fortifications and impediments that seemed to keep human beings from entering the citadel of nature, and rashly and ignorantly I had repined.†   (source) Mary Shelley, Frankenstein , 1818
• It is a very strange sensation to inexperienced youth to feel itself quite alone in the world, cut adrift from every connection, uncertain whether the port to which it is bound can be reached, and prevented by many impediments from returning to that it has quitted.†   (source) Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre , 1847
• And thus, through the courage and great skill in obstetrics of Queequeg, the deliverance, or rather, delivery of Tashtego, was successfully accomplished, in the teeth, too, of the most untoward and apparently hopeless impediments ; which is a lesson by no means to be forgotten.†   (source) Herman Melville, Moby Dick , 1851
• From this place the squatter found the ascent still difficult, partly by nature and partly by artificial impediments , until he reached a sort of terrace, or, to speak more properly, the plain of the elevation, where he had established the huts in which the whole family dwelt.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie , 1827
• Ichabod, on the contrary, had to win his way to the heart of a country coquette, beset with a labyrinth of whims and caprices, which were forever presenting new difficulties and impediments ; and he had to encounter a host of fearful adversaries of real flesh and blood, the numerous rustic admirers, who beset every portal to her heart, keeping a watchful and angry eye upon each other, but ready to fly out in the common cause against any new competitor.†   (source) Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , 1820
• You see only impediments and obstacles!†   (source) Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , 1869
• In all those years it had never once been opened; but either she unlocked it or the decaying wood and iron yielded to her hand, or she glided shadow-like through these impediments —and, at all events, went in.†   (source) Nathanial Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter , 1850
• And, sir, if business imposes its restraints and its silences and impediments , Mr. Darnay as a young gentleman of generosity knows how to make allowance for that circumstance.†   (source) Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities , 1859
• Between them and the final object of their desires, they perceive a multitude of small intermediate impediments , which must be slowly surmounted: this prospect wearies and discourages their ambition at once.†   (source) Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy In America, Volume 2 , 1840
• It was conceivable that these impediments should some day prove a sort of blessing in disguise—a clear and quiet harbour enclosed by a brave granite breakwater.†   (source) Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady - Volume 1 , 1881
• Anything that would take her out of the grievous present, and interpose human beings betwixt herself and what was nearest to her,—whatever would defer for an instant the inevitable errand on which she was bound,—all such impediments were welcome.†   (source) Nathanial Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables , 1851
• Everything was now in a regular train: theatre, actors, actresses, and dresses, were all getting forward; but though no other great impediments arose, Fanny found, before many days were past, that it was not all uninterrupted enjoyment to the party themselves, and that she had not to witness the continuance of such unanimity and delight as had been almost too much for her at first.†   (source) Jane Austen, Mansfield Park , 1814
• But shaking himself, like an awakened lion, he sprang forward, and pushing aside the impediments of the barrier, as if they had been feathers, he rushed up the ascent with an impetuosity which proved how formidable a sluggish nature may become, when thoroughly aroused.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie , 1827
• There was no room for gesticulation or grace in the delivery of his reply, for the mountain was steep and slippery; and, although the Frenchman had an eye of uncommon magnitude on either side of his face, they did not seem to be half competent to forewarn him of the impediments of bushes, twigs, and fallen trees, that were momentarily crossing his path.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers , 1823
• But she reflected that she herself might know the humiliation of change, might really, for that matter, come to the end of the things that were not Caspar (even though there appeared so many of them), and find rest in those very elements of his presence which struck her now as impediments to the finer respiration.†   (source) Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady - Volume 1 , 1881
• Alarmed by the rapidity of its progress, those who despair of arresting its motion endeavor to obstruct it by difficulties and impediments ; they vainly seek to counteract its effect by contrary efforts; but it gradually reduces or destroys every obstacle, until by its incessant activity the bulwarks of the influence of wealth are ground down to the fine and shifting sand which is the basis of democracy.†   (source) Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy In America, Volume 1 , 1835
• These habits and notions, which I shall call revolutionary, because all revolutions produce them, occur in aristocracies just as much as amongst democratic nations; but amongst the former they are often less powerful and always less lasting, because there they meet with habits, notions, defects, and impediments , which counteract them: they consequently disappear as soon as the revolution is terminated, and the nation reverts to its former political courses.†   (source) Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy In America, Volume 2 , 1840
• ; in fact, he could say, 'These two children of a cruel and persecuting king, who have inherited the vices of their father, which I alone could perceive in their juvenile propensities—these two children are impediments in my way of promoting the happiness of the English people, whose unhappiness they (the children) would infallibly have caused.'†   (source) Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo , 1846
• He knew her well enough in all cases to know that, whether acting for or against him, as a friend or an enemy, she would not remain motionless without great impediments ; but whence did these impediments arise?†   (source) Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers , 1850
• Yet no people in the world has made such rapid progress in trade and manufactures as the Americans: they constitute at the present day the second maritime nation in the world; and although their manufactures have to struggle with almost insurmountable natural impediments , they are not prevented from making great and daily advances.†   (source) Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy In America, Volume 2 , 1840
• He had been struck with the stranger's using the legitimate, instead of the perverted name of the animal off which he was making his repast; and as he had been among the foremost himself to profit by the removal of the impediments which the policy of Spain had placed in the way of all explorers of her trans-Atlantic dominions, whether bent on the purposes of commerce, or, like himself, on the more laudable pursuits of science, he had a sufficiency of every-day philosophy to feel that the same motives, which had so powerfully urged himself to his present undertaking, might produce a like result on the mind of some other student of nature.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie , 1827
• Still there is no impediment to returning to the door for thy brushing.†   (source) Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls , 1940
• This is a time of extreme danger, impediment , or disgrace.†   (source) Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces , 1949
• He couldn't even realise yet that his trouble, his impediment , was innocence because he would not be able to realise that until he got it straight.†   (source) William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! , 1936
• She had the impediment of Moses whose hand the watching angel guided to the coal, Friedl, and she carried her stuttering into fluency later.†   (source) Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March , 1949
• He believed as firmly as Arthur did, as firmly as the benighted Christian, that there was such a thing as Right Finally, there was the impediment of his nature.†   (source) T. H. White, The Once and Future King , 1939
• All impediment is removed.†   (source) Virginia Woolf, The Waves , 1931
• It was a long time before Rex could be convinced of the existence of a serious impediment to his marriage.†   (source) Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited , 1944
• It is as if the three words were some automatic impediment which her voice cannot pass; they can almost watch her marshalling herself to go around them.†   (source) William Faulkner, Light in August , 1932
• The trees had thrown out low branches, making an impediment to progress; the gnarled roots looked like skeleton claws.†   (source) Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca , 1938
• For the space of the prospect and its clarity seemed to offer no impediment whatsoever, but to allow our lives to spread out and out beyond all bristling of roofs and chimneys to the flawless verge.†   (source) Virginia Woolf, The Waves , 1931
• There seemed to be some obstacle, some impediment in Mr A's mind which blocked the fountain of creative energy and shored it within narrow limits.†   (source) Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own , 1928
• 'But when you stand in the door,' said Neville, 'you inflict stillness, demanding admiration, and that is a great impediment to the freedom of intercourse.†   (source) Virginia Woolf, The Waves , 1931
• And remembering the lunch party at Oxbridge, and the cigarette ash and the Manx cat and Tennyson and Christina Rossetti all in a bunch, it seemed possible that the impediment lay there.†   (source) Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own , 1928
• He meant, perhaps, that the androgynous mind is resonant and porous; that it transmits emotion without impediment ; that it is naturally creative, incandescent and undivided.†   (source) Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own , 1928
• ROXANE: But my words find no such impediment .†   (source) Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac , 1897
• And even granting some impediment , why was this gentleman to be received by me in secret?†   (source) Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , 1886
• No, I didn't see any impediment on the score of age.†   (source) Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier , 1915
• Richard himself was the chief impediment .†   (source) Charles Dickens, Bleak House , 1853
• I am in a condition to prove my allegation: an insuperable impediment to this marriage exists.†   (source) Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre , 1847
• CHAPTER 15 — No just Cause or Impediment why these Two Persons should not be joined together†   (source) Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit , 1857
• Pin the villains to the earth with my lance, Wamba, if they offered us any impediment .†   (source) Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe , 1820
• Then climate is a great impediment to idle persons.†   (source) Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected Essays , 1850
• "What is the nature of the impediment ?" he asked.†   (source) Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre , 1847
• But the impediment lies in the choosing.†   (source) Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected Essays , 1850
• In a gurgling voice with a serious impediment , he would address Hans Castorp—as he did all the patients—by his room number and then proceed to rub him down with alcohol.†   (source) Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain , 1924
• This would have been no serious hindrance on a week-day; they would have clicked through it in their high patterns and boots quite unconcerned; but on this day of vanity, this Sun's-day, when flesh went forth to coquet with flesh while hypocritically affecting business with spiritual things; on this occasion for wearing their white stockings and thin shoes, and their pink, white, and lilac gowns, on which every mud spot would be visible, the pool was an awkward impediment .†   (source) Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles , 1891
• The growing crowd, he said, was becoming a serious impediment to their excavations, especially the boys.†   (source) H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds , 1898
• "Oh," rejoined Billy, now mastering the impediment ; "I found an afterguardsman in our part of the ship here and I bid him be off where he belongs."†   (source) Herman Melville, Billy Budd , 1924
• Though at the time Captain Vere was quite ignorant of Billy's liability to vocal impediment , he now immediately divined it, since vividly Billy's aspect recalled to him that of a bright young schoolmate of his whom he had once seen struck by much the same startling impotence in the act of eagerly rising in the class to be foremost in response to a testing question put to it by the master.†   (source) Herman Melville, Billy Budd , 1924
• You are worried about that universal impediment because you recognize the rotten imperium of which it is the capital, as a mummified version of the Holy Roman Empire.†   (source) Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain , 1924
• The swelling was worst around the lips, and the inside of his mouth was dry or numbed; together these conditions obviously made it difficult for Joachim to speak, he mumbled like a very old man and was himself quite annoyed by the impediment .†   (source) Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain , 1924
• She called death the "grim ripper," called people " impediment " if she wanted to accuse them of being too cheeky, and could talk the most ghastly nonsense about the astronomical causes for a solar eclipse.†   (source) Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain , 1924
• To be a woman condemned to a painful and disgraceful punishment is no impediment to beauty, but it is an obstacle to the recovery of power.†   (source) Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers , 1850
• How to settle the claims of Enscombe and Hartfield had been a continual impediment —less acknowledged by Mr. Weston than by herself—but even he had never been able to finish the subject better than by saying—"Those matters will take care of themselves; the young people will find a way."†   (source) Jane Austen, Emma , 1815
• Though not altogether enraptured at the sight of these visitors, Clennam lost no time in opening the counting-house door, and extricating them from the workshop; a rescue which was rendered the more necessary by Mr F.'s Aunt already stumbling over some impediment , and menacing steam power as an Institution with a stony reticule she carried.†   (source) Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit , 1857
• In America the principle of the sovereignty of the people is not either barren or concealed, as it is with some other nations; it is recognized by the customs and proclaimed by the laws; it spreads freely, and arrives without impediment at its most remote consequences.†   (source) Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy In America, Volume 1 , 1835
• Our last halting-place being much enclosed by shrubs, bamboos and brushwood, we had during our stay opened a path through the cane thicket in the direction we were about to travel; this we now found of the greatest assistance, and the loaded cart passed on without impediment .†   (source) Johann Wyss, The Swiss Family Robinson , 1849
• Struck by the circumstance, and not perceiving any new impediment to retard her footstep, the youth made a tender of his assistance.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers , 1823
• One part of his dress only remains, but it is too remarkable to be suppressed; it was a brass ring, resembling a dog's collar, but without any opening, and soldered fast round his neck, so loose as to form no impediment to his breathing, yet so tight as to be incapable of being removed, excepting by the use of the file.†   (source) Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe , 1820
• An impediment that was embodied in poor Rosier could not anyhow present itself as a dangerous one; there were always means of levelling secondary obstacles.†   (source) Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady - Volume 2 , 1881
• He exposed their risk and fallacy with his usual skill; and it was only after he had removed every impediment , in the shape of opposing advice, that he ventured to propose his own projects.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans , 1826
• Anne felt truly obliged to her for such kindness; and quite as much so for the opportunity it gave her of decidedly saying— "If it depended only on my inclination, ma'am, the party at home (excepting on Mary's account) would not be the smallest impediment .†   (source) Jane Austen, Persuasion , 1817
• The expense need not be any impediment .†   (source) Jane Austen, Mansfield Park , 1814
• June would probably have prevailed, had not another and a more vigorous push from without forced the bar past the trifling impediment that held it, when the door opened.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pathfinder , 1840
• This interfered with the solitude I coveted for the prosecution of my task; yet at the commencement of my journey the presence of my friend could in no way be an impediment , and truly I rejoiced that thus I should be saved many hours of lonely, maddening reflection.†   (source) Mary Shelley, Frankenstein , 1818
• Partly it was the reception of his own artistic production that tickled him; partly the notion of his grave cousin as the lover of that girl; and partly Mr. Brooke's definition of the place he might have held but for the impediment of indolence.†   (source) George Eliot, Middlemarch , 1872
• As for Mabel herself, he insisted on her taking some light refreshment; and, there no longer existing any motive for keeping it there, he had the guard removed from the block, in order that the daughter might have no impediment to her attentions to her father.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pathfinder , 1840
• He saw, at once, that this wily savage had some secret agency in their present arraignment before the nation, and determined to throw every possible impediment in the way of the execution of his sinister plans.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans , 1826
• Under this provocation, Mr. Smallweed's favourite adjective of disparagement is so close to his tongue that he begins the words "my dear friend" with the monosyllable "brim," thus converting the possessive pronoun into brimmy and appearing to have an impediment in his speech.†   (source) Charles Dickens, Bleak House , 1853
• A red silk handkerchief was frequently applied to the glittering steel, as if to remove from the polished surfaces the least impediment which might exist to the most delicate operation.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers , 1823
• In America the individuals who hold opinions very much opposed to those of the majority are no sort of impediment to its power, and all other parties hope to win it over to their own principles in the end.†   (source) Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy In America, Volume 1 , 1835
• "There is a great deal of truth in what you say," replied Sir Thomas, "and far be it from me to throw any fanciful impediment in the way of a plan which would be so consistent with the relative situations of each.†   (source) Jane Austen, Mansfield Park , 1814
• Mahtoree assured himself of the right position of his tomahawk, felt that his knife was secure in its sheath of skin, tightened his girdle of wampum and saw that the lacing of his fringed and ornamental leggings was secure, and likely to offer no impediment to his exertions.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie , 1827
• Having removed this impediment , and lifted certain silvery envelopes of tissue paper, she merely exclaimed — "Oh ciel!†   (source) Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre , 1847
• Time, patience, and zeal, however, removed every impediment , and the venerable men who had been set apart by the American churches at length returned to their expecting dioceses, endowed with the most elevated functions of their earthly church.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers , 1823
• Having conquered the first and greatest impediment which opposed his advancement, he resigns himself with less impatience to the slowness of his progress.†   (source) Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy In America, Volume 2 , 1840
• As the personal attainments of the sovereign are thus combined with the ignorance and democratic weakness of his subjects, the utmost centralization has been established without impediment , and the pacha has made the country his manufactory, and the inhabitants his workmen.†   (source) Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy In America, Volume 2 , 1840
• It was, only at moments, however, as some slight impediment opposed itself to his loitering progress, that his person, which, in its ordinary gait seemed so lounging and nerveless, displayed any of those energies, which lay latent in his system, like the slumbering and unwieldy, but terrible, strength of the elephant.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie , 1827
• At this point Elizabeth understood the hunter she was to meet him; and thither she urged her way, as expeditiously as the difficulty of the ascent, and the impediment of a forest, in a state of nature, would admit.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers , 1823
• — when a distinct and near voice said — "The marriage cannot go on: I declare the existence of an impediment ."†   (source) Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre , 1847
• The sleigh was easily breed across so slight an impediment , and before Richard became conscious of his danger one-half of the vehicle Was projected over a precipice, which fell perpendicularly more than a hundred feet.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers , 1823
• To attain this end, are you justified in overleaping an obstacle of custom — a mere conventional impediment which neither your conscience sanctifies nor your judgment approves?†   (source) Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre , 1847
• I require and charge you both (as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgment, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed), that if either of you know any impediment why ye may not lawfully be joined together in matrimony, ye do now confess it; for be ye well assured that so many as are coupled together otherwise than God's Word doth allow, are not joined together by God, neither is their matrimony lawful.†   (source) Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre , 1847
• By this time the gentleman in the front seat, who had been addressed as Monsieur Le Quoi, had arisen with some difficulty, owing to the impediment of his overcoats, and steadying himself by placing one hand on the stool of the charioteer, with the other he removed his cap, and bowing politely to the Judge and profoundly to Elizabeth, he paid his compliments.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers , 1823
• While speaking, Elnathan placed a pair of large iron-rimmed spectacles on his face, where they dropped, as it were by long practice, to the extremity of his slim pug nose; and, if they were of no service as assistants to his eyes, neither were they any impediment to his vision; for his little gray organs were twinkling above them like two stars emerging from the envious cover of a cloud.†   (source) James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers , 1823
• "Though with your usual anxiety for our happiness," said Elinor, "you have been obviating every impediment to the present scheme which occurred to you, there is still one objection which, in my opinion, cannot be so easily removed."†   (source) Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility , 1811
• She reached the house without any impediment , looked at the number, knocked at the door, and inquired for Miss Tilney.†   (source) Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey , 1799
• [96] All these differences between English and American pronunciation, separately considered, seem slight, but in the aggregate they are sufficient to place serious impediments between mutual [Pg176] comprehension†   (source) Henry L. Mencken, The American Language , 1919
• It greatly multiplies the impediments to its success.†   (source) James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, & John Jay, The Federalist Papers , 1788
• but for my tears, The moist impediments unto my speech, I had forestall'd this dear and deep rebuke Ere you with grief had spoke and I had heard The course of it so far.†   (source) William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2 , 1597
• So that the effect which redoundeth to one man, by another mans defect of Right, is but so much diminution of impediments to the use of his own Right originall.†   (source) Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan , 1651
• I grant him bloody, Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin That has a name: but there's no bottom, none, In my voluptuousness: your wives, your daughters, Your matrons, and your maids, could not fill up The cistern of my lust; and my desire All continent impediments would o'erbear, That did oppose my will: better Macbeth Than such an one to reign.†   (source) William Shakespeare, Macbeth , 1606
• I think she has: certain it is I lik'd her, And boarded her i' the wanton way of youth: She knew her distance, and did angle for me, Madding my eagerness with her restraint, As all impediments in fancy's course Are motives of more fancy; and, in fine, Her infinite cunning with her modern grace, Subdu'd me to her rate: she got the ring; And I had that which any inferior might At market-price have bought.†   (source) William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well , 1607
• Similar impediments occur at every step, to exhaust the strength and delay the progress of an invader.†   (source) James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, & John Jay, The Federalist Papers , 1788
• I wonder much, Being men of such great leading as you are, That you foresee not what impediments Drag back our expedition: certain Horse Of my cousin Vernon's are not yet come up: Your uncle Worcester's Horse came but to-day; And now their pride and mettle is asleep, Their courage with hard labour tame and dull, That not a horse is half the half himself.†   (source) William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1 , 1597
• For the absence of a few, that would have the Resolution once taken, continue firme, (which may happen by security, negligence, or private impediments ,) or the diligent appearance of a few of the contrary opinion, undoes to day, all that was concluded yesterday.†   (source) Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan , 1651
• Remember, my friend, that woman is an imperfect animal, and that impediments are not to be placed in her way to make her trip and fall, but that they should be removed, and her path left clear of all obstacles, so that without hindrance she may run her course freely to attain the desired perfection, which consists in being virtuous.†   (source) Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote , 1615
• Behold, I have a weapon; A better never did itself sustain Upon a soldier's thigh: I have seen the day That with this little arm and this good sword I have made my way through more impediments Than twenty times your stop:—but, O vain boast!†   (source) William Shakespeare, Othello, the Moor of Venice , 1604
• Liberty, or FREEDOME, signifieth (properly) the absence of Opposition; (by Opposition, I mean externall Impediments of motion;) and may be applyed no lesse to Irrational, and Inanimate creatures, than to Rationall.†   (source) Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan , 1651
• The virtuous and chaste woman is an ermine, and whiter and purer than snow is the virtue of modesty; and he who wishes her not to lose it, but to keep and preserve it, must adopt a course different from that employed with the ermine; he must not put before her the mire of the gifts and attentions of persevering lovers, because perhaps—and even without a perhaps—she may not have sufficient virtue and natural strength in herself to pass through and tread under foot these impediments ; they must be removed, and the brightness of virtue and the beauty of a fair fame must be put before her.†   (source) Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote , 1615
• When men, engaged in unjustifiable pursuits, are aware that obstructions may come from a quarter which they cannot control, they will often be restrained by the bare apprehension of opposition, from doing what they would with eagerness rush into, if no such external impediments were to be feared.†   (source) James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, & John Jay, The Federalist Papers , 1788
• And Irresolution, Dishonourable; as a signe of too much valuing of little impediments , and little advantages: For when a man has weighed things as long as the time permits, and resolves not, the difference of weight is but little; and therefore if he resolve not, he overvalues little things, which is Pusillanimity.†   (source) Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan , 1651
• Besides other impediments , it may be remarked that, where there is a consciousness of unjust or dishonorable purposes, communication is always checked by distrust in proportion to the number whose concurrence is necessary.†   (source) James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, & John Jay, The Federalist Papers , 1788
• It is equally evident that the same sources of information would be open to the people in relation to the conduct of their representatives in the general government, and the impediments to a prompt communication which distance may be supposed to create, will be overbalanced by the effects of the vigilance of the State governments.†   (source) James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, & John Jay, The Federalist Papers , 1788

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Impediment in a sentence

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• negation  (78+2)
• recognize  (176+17)
• separate  (151+37)
• separate from  (129+2)
• make full use of  (87+1)
• enrich  (165+7)
• be absent from  (33)
• trial and error  (80)
• applicable  (174+5)
• appliance  (265+1)
• appetite  (271+21)
• apart  (285+55)
• crime  (246+55)
• sin  (300+10)
• annoy  (92+3)
• deception  (195+6)
• mistake  (185+81)
• anchor  (245+13)
• amongst  (189+15)
• ambulance  (165+18)