impinge

verb im·pinge \ im-ˈpinj \

Definition of impinge

impinged; impinging

intransitive verb

1 :to strike or dash especially with a sharp collision

I heard the rain impinge upon the earth
—James Joyce

2 :to have an effect :make an impression

waiting for the germ of a new idea to impinge upon my mind
—Phyllis Bentley

3 :encroach, infringe

impinge on other people's rights

—

impingement

play \im-ˈpinj-mənt\ noun

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Examples of impinge in a Sentence

hail was noisily impinging upon the car's exterior

Recent Examples of impinge from the Web

Washington has yet to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea that would regulate territorial disputes, due to concerns among some senators that submitting to international treaties would impinge on U.S. sovereignty.

— frank jordans, The Seattle Times, "Warming Arctic spurs battles for riches, shipping routes," 22 Aug. 2017
That impinges on the constitutional rights of the mission, its employees and guests to exercise their religious faith, the suit claims.

— tony rizzo, kansascity, "Threats to arrest convicted sex offenders at City Union Mission prompt federal lawsuit," 10 Aug. 2017
But as the historical society’s board president, Chris Perks, said Thursday, the location of a noise barrier could easily have been adjusted to spare the house while not unduly impinging upon residents of the nearly Bellmawr Park neighborhood.

— kevin riordan, Philly.com, "Historical society sues NJDOT for razing 1700s Hugg-Harrison house," 20 July 2017
But that could impinge on American monetary policy.

— The Economist, "The outlines of NAFTA 2 emerge," 20 July 2017
But his surgeon wondered whether the culprit was a bone spur that was seen on an MRI impinging on a nerve.

— janelle gelfand, Cincinnati.com, "CSO's Timothy Lees bows out of European tour," 14 July 2017
But this frustration never slowed the pace of American cooperation or ever impinged on U.S.-Saudi relations.

— michael brendan dougherty, National Review, "Trump’s Yemen Policy Is Immoral and Counterproductive," 13 July 2017
Political disputes have never impinged on the festivities here, said Karen Lobban, 70, who has been involved with [Alderson, W. Va.’s] parade in one way or another for all of its 56 years.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Trump looks east for new foreign policy," 5 July 2017
Pro-democracy activists said Beijing has increasingly been impinging upon Hong Kong’s autonomy and civil liberties — from attempting to instill a patriotic national education curriculum in 2012 to blocking universal voting rights.

— thomas maresca, USA TODAY, "20 years on, freewheeling Hong Kong becomes more like the rest of repressed China," 29 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'impinge.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of impinge

Latin impingere, from in- + pangere to fasten, drive in — more at pact

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First Known Use: 1605

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impinge Synonyms

Synonyms

bang, bash, bump, collide, crash, impact, hit, knock, ram, slam, smash, strike, swipe, thud

Related Words

bounce, carom, clunk, glance, rebound, ricochet, skim, skip; contact, land, touch; brush, graze, kiss, nudge, scrape, shave, sweep; bulldoze, jostle, muscle, press, push

Near Antonyms

miss, skirt

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impinge

Definition of impinge

impingement

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Origin and Etymology of impinge

impinge Synonyms

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impinge

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impingement

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