impingement

[im-pinj-muhnt]

noun

1. the act or fact of encroaching or infringing.

   This is an impingement on the fundamental right of free speech.

2. the act or fact of striking or touching something, or the effect produced by this.

   The impingement on the diamond’s hard crystal surface is due to oxygen in the air.

3. Medicine/Medical.,  the act or fact of interfering with something, especially a nerve, through contact or pressure.

   Impingement on the nerves can be relieved by removing the portion of the bone compressing the neural structures.

Word History and Origins

Origin of impingement¹

impinge ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Example Sentences

Sasaki went to the sideline in early May with a right shoulder impingement and wasn’t reactivated until the final week of the season — as a reliever.

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At the start of the season, Sasaki made eight underwhelming starts — with wild command and declining fastball velocity contributing to a 4.72 ERA — before being sidelined by a shoulder impingement.

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He has not pitched in nearly three months after going on the IL with a shoulder impingement.

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“The stuff was good,” Roberts said of Kopech, out since the start of the year because of a shoulder impingement.

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If Roberts’ story was accurate, and Sasaki experienced a shoulder impingement similar to the one that slowed him down last year in Japan, wouldn’t that point to a chronic problem?

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