Noun

(en noun)

A hindrance; that which impedes or hinders progress.

* Shakespeare

Thus far into the bowels of the land / Have we marched on without impediment .

* {{quote-book

, year=1818 , author=Mary Shelley , title=Frankenstein , chapter=2 citation , passage=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.}}

Working in a noisy factory left him with a slight hearing impediment .

(chiefly, in the plural) Baggage, especially that of an army; impedimenta