disencumber
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disencumber
1590–1600; < Middle French desencombrer, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + encombrer to encumber
Explanation
To free someone from a burden or difficult situation is to disencumber them. You might try to disencumber yourself from the responsibility of walking the dog by bribing your sister to do it. Want to make your life less complicated or otherwise free yourself from some obstacle? You need to disencumber yourself. Things from which people disencumber themselves tend to be obligations, guilt, relationships, and other complexities of life. Disencumber comes from the verb encumber and its Latin source combrus, "barricade or obstacle."
Vocabulary lists containing disencumber
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yang’s resignation from the boards of Alibaba and Yahoo Japan should disencumber negotiations around a potential deal for those assets, a positive for the stock.
From Forbes ● Jan. 18, 2012
Notes have made it possible to distinguish between the historical narrative and the documents which support it, to give references to sources, to disencumber and illustrate the text.
From Introduction to the Study of History by George Godfrey Berry
Certainly they are cases of which any one who maintains the opinion in question would be glad to disencumber himself; because they clearly expose the unsoundness of his principle.
From A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity. by William Wilberforce
Do you, Bogle, disencumber your study as fast as you can of these absurd busts of the older dramatists, now fit for nothing but targets in a shooting-gallery.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, Number 358, August 1845 by Various
He allowed Belisarius to disencumber himself of many useless consumers of food by sending the women, the children, and the slaves out of the City.
From Theodoric the Goth Barbarian Champion of Civilisation by Thomas Hodgkin
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