Both Uses of
encumber
in
Jane Eyre
- The carriage stopped, as I had expected, at the hotel door; my flame (that is the very word for an opera inamorata) alighted: though muffed in a cloak — an unnecessary encumbrance, by-the-bye, on so warm a June evening — I knew her instantly by her little foot, seen peeping from the skirt of her dress, as she skipped from the carriage-step.†
p. 166.5 *encumbrance = something that hinders
- Firm, faithful, and devoted, full of energy, and zeal, and truth, he labours for his race; he clears their painful way to improvement; he hews down like a giant the prejudices of creed and caste that encumber it.†
p. 521.1
Definition:
hinder (make more difficult, or less valuable, hold back, or weigh down)