Other forms: cumbered; cumbering; cumbers
To cumber is to make something more difficult or burdensome. Don't cumber yourself by trying to carry all those tote bags through the airport — get a rolling suitcase instead!
The old-fashioned verb cumber is rarely used these days, but you still see hints of it in words like cumbersome and unencumbered. It derives from the Old French combre, "obstruction," and its root, meaning "to carry." If you come across this word in an old poem or novel, you'll know it means "to burden." In Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, for example, the character of Meg is described as "cumbered with many cares."