impinge

See also împinge

English

Etymology

From Latin impingō (“dash against, impinge”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪmˈpɪndʒ/, SAMPA: /Im"pIndZ/

Verb

impinge (third-person singular simple present impinges, present participle impinging, simple past and past participle impinged)

1. (intransitive, now rare) To make a physical impact (on); to collide, to crash (upon).
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. 1, New York Review Books 2001, p. 287:

     The ordinary rocks upon which such men do impinge and precipitate themselves, are cards, dice, hawks, and hounds [...].

2. (intransitive, figuratively) To interfere with; to encroach (on, upon).
   • 2006,, Keith R. Fisher, “Toward a Basal Tenth Amendment: A Riposte to National Bank Preemption of State Consumer Protection Laws”, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, volume 29, page 981-1034: 

     It is astonishing that the meaning of a single declarative sentence enshrined in the Bill of Rights has evaded judicial construction establishing, at a minimum, some bedrock level of state sovereignty upon which the federal government can not impinge.

3. (transitive) To have an effect upon; to limit.

Usage notes

• The transitive use is less common, not included in many dictionaries, and not favored by Garner's Modern American Usage (2009).

Derived terms

terms derived from impinge

impingement impingent

impinger

Related terms

• impact

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Italian

Verb

impinge

1. third-person singular present indicative of impingere

Anagrams

• impegni

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Latin

Verb

impinge

1. second-person singular present active imperative of impingō