What does impinge mean?
Word: Impinge
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Impinge means to affect something in a way that people notice, usually for the worse.
How do you spell impinge?
Syllables: im - pinge
Tricky part: Students who hear an n before the p write inpinge. Before a p, the sound is spelt m, as it is in impact and impose.
Watch out for: inpinge, inpindge, impringe
Memory tip: Something that impinges has an impact: let impact show you how to open the word.
Impinge in a sentence
Example 1: Late-night phone use can impinge on a child's sleep.
Example 2: Building work next door began to impinge on our lessons.
Example 3: Her cricket training never impinged on her studies.
Fun Fact
Physicists still use the older sense of striking something: light is said to impinge on a surface when it hits it.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The organisers promised that the extra football practice would not impenge on the hours set aside for homework before the final exams.
a) promised
b) practice
c) organisers
d) impenge
Show answer
d) impenge. The vowel after the p is the short i of pin.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Try not to let your hobbies gpniiem on the hours you need for revision.
a) imagine
b) implore
c) impinge
d) impulse
Show answer
c) impinge. The jumble has no a, so imagine is out, and impulse and implore need an l.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word impinge as used in the sentence:
Local people fear that the new flyover will impinge on the old park.
a) reflect
b) depend
c) insist
d) encroach
Show answer
d) encroach. To encroach on land is to spread into it, and the flyover would do just that.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. infringe 2. interfear 3. impinge 4. intrude
a) to break a rule or limit someone's rights
b) to get involved in a matter that does not concern you
c) to go where you are not wanted
d) to touch on something and affect it for the worse
Show answer
b) to get involved in a matter that does not concern you. Interfere ends in ere, with no a.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If the noise from a new shop impinges on your study time, what has happened?
a) it has started to get in the way
b) it has moved to another street
c) it has helped you concentrate
d) it has made your hours longer
Show answer
a) it has started to get in the way
2. Which of these describes something impinging on a neighbour?
a) a tall hedge blocking the sun from next door
b) a pleasant chat over the garden wall at dusk
c) a new doorbell fitted on your own front door
d) a neighbour watering her plants every morning
Show answer
a) a tall hedge blocking the sun from next door
