2 uses
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Definition
create difficulty so as to slow or prevent (something)
- The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act guarantees an inmate the opportunity to worship whatever he likes as long as it doesn't impede the safety of others in the prison or affect the running of the prison.
- If the state agrees to his execution by hanging, and provides for the subsequent donation of his organs, the safety of other inmates isn't impeded; the running of the prison isn't affected—but it would offer a very significant personal outcome for Shay Bourne: to save a little girl's life, and in the process, to save his own soul.
There are no more uses of "impede" in Change of Heart by Picoult.
Typical Usage
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