impassable

  • 1impassable — impassable, impenetrable, impervious, impermeable are comparable when they mean not allowing passage through. Impassable applies chiefly to stretches of land or water which cannot be passed over or crossed because of some insuperable difficulty… …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 2impassable — ⇒IMPASSABLE, adj. A. Vx ou littér. Que l on ne peut traverser. Synon. infranchissable. Les Pyrénées étaient impassables, gardées par les Bourbons d Espagne (CHATEAUBR., Mém., t. 4, 1848, p. 561). Retranche toi, peuple assiégé! Étends tes… …

    Encyclopédie Universelle

  • 3Impassable — Im*pass a*ble, a. [Cf. {Unpassable}.] Incapable of being passed; not admitting a passage; as, an impassable road, mountain, or gulf. Milton. {Im*pass a*ble*ness}, n. {Im*pass a*bly}, adv. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 4impassable — impassable, impassible Impassable means ‘that cannot be traversed’ and refers to roads, stretches of countryside, etc. Impassible means ‘incapable of feeling emotion’ or ‘incapable of suffering injury’, and is pronounced with the second syllable… …

    Modern English usage

  • 5impassable — [im pas′ə bəl] adj. that cannot be passed, crossed, or traveled over [an impassable highway] impassability n. impassably adv …

    English World dictionary

  • 6impassable — index difficult, impervious, impossible, impracticable, insurmountable Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 7impassable — (adj.) that cannot be passed, 1560s, from IM (Cf. im ) + PASSABLE (Cf. passable) …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 8impassable — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ impossible to travel along or over. DERIVATIVES impassability noun …

    English terms dictionary

  • 9impassable — impassability, impassableness, n. impassably, adv. /im pas euh beuhl, pah seuh /, adj. 1. not passable; not allowing passage over, through, along, etc.: Heavy snow made the roads impassable. 2. unable to be surmounted: an impassable obstacle to… …

    Universalium

  • 10impassable — adj. VERBS ▪ be ▪ become ▪ remain ▪ make sth ▪ The mud made the roads impassable. ADVERB …

    Collocations dictionary