after a while, by and by, hereafter, in the future, some time.
bury, dip, douse, duck, immerge, plunge, sink, submerge.
_Dip_ is Saxon, while _immerse_ is Latin for the same initial act; _dip_ is accordingly the more popular and commonplace, _immerse_ the more elegant and dignified expression in many cases. To speak of baptism by immersion as _dipping_ now seems rude; tho entirely proper and usual in early English. Baptists now universally use the word _immerse_. To _dip_ and to _immerse_ alike signify to _bury_ or _submerge_ some object in a liquid; but _dip_ implies that the object _dipped_ is at once removed from the liquid, while _immerse_ is wholly silent as to the removal. _Immerse_ also suggests more absolute completeness of the action; one may _dip_ his sleeve or _dip_ a sponge in a liquid, if he but touches the edge; if he _immerses_ it, he completely _sinks_ it under, and covers it with the liquid. _Submerge_ implies that the object can not readily be removed, if at all; as, a _submerged_ wreck. To _plunge_ is to _immerse_ suddenly and violently, for which _douse_ and _duck_ are colloquial terms. _Dip_ is used, also, unlike the other words, to denote the putting of a hollow vessel into a liquid in order to remove a portion of it; in this sense we say _dip up_, _dip out_. Compare synonyms for BURY.
_Imminent_, from the Latin, with the sense of projecting over, signifies liable to happen at once, as some calamity, dangerous and close at hand. _Impending_, also from the Latin, with the sense of hanging over, is closely akin to _imminent_, but somewhat less emphatic. _Imminent_ is more immediate, _impending_ more remote, _threatening_ more contingent. An _impending_ evil is almost sure to happen at some uncertain time, perhaps very near; an _imminent_ peril is one liable to befall very speedily; a _threatening_ peril may be near or remote, but always with hope that it may be averted.
chimerical, doubtful, problematical, unexpected, unlikely. contingent, improbable,
bar, clog, encumbrance, obstacle, barrier, difficulty, hindrance, obstruction.
_Difficulty_ makes an undertaking otherwise than easy. That which rests upon one as a burden is an _encumbrance_. An _impediment_ is primarily something that checks the foot or in any way makes advance slow or difficult; an _obstacle_ is something that stands across the way, an _obstruction_ something that is built or placed across the way. An _obstruction_ is always an _obstacle_, but an _obstacle_ may not always be properly termed an _obstruction_; boxes and bales placed on the sidewalk are _obstructions_ to travel; an ice-floe is an _obstacle_ to navigation, and may become an _obstruction_ if it closes an inlet or channel. A _hindrance_ (kindred with _hind_, _behind_) is anything that makes one come behind or short of his purpose. An _impediment_ may be either what one finds in his way or what he carries with him; _impedimenta_ was the Latin name for the baggage of a soldier or of an army. The tendency is to view an _impediment_ as something constant or, at least for a time, continuous; as, an _impediment_ in one's speech. A _difficulty_ or a _hindrance_ may be either within one or without; a speaker may find _difficulty_ in expressing himself, or _difficulty_ in holding the attention of restless children. An _encumbrance_ is always what one carries with him; an _obstacle_ or an _obstruction_ is always without. To a marching soldier the steepness of a mountain path is a _difficulty_, loose stones are _impediments_, a fence is an _obstruction_, a cliff or a boulder across the way is an _obstacle_; a knapsack is an _encumbrance_.