n.
- The act or an instance of hindering, obstructing, or impeding.
- Something that hinders, obstructs, or impedes.
- Sports. Illegal obstruction or hindrance of an opposing player, such as hindrance of a receiver by a defender in football, hindrance of a fielder by a base runner in baseball, or checking a player not in possession of the puck in ice hockey.
- Football. The legal blocking of defensive tacklers to protect and make way for the ball carrier.
- Physics. The variation of wave amplitude that occurs when waves of the same or different frequency come together.
- Electronics.
- The inhibition or prevention of clear reception of broadcast signals.
- The distorted portion of a received signal.
- The negative or distorting effect that new learning can have on previous learning or that previous learning can have on new learning.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.