n. 25B6; noun
a visual handicap : DISABILITY, physical/mental abnormality, defect, impairment, affliction, deficiency.
a handicap to the competitiveness of the industry : IMPEDIMENT, hindrance, obstacle, barrier, bar, obstruction, encumbrance, constraint, restriction, check, block, curb; disadvantage, drawback, stumbling block, difficulty, shortcoming, limitation; ball and chain, albatross, millstone round someone's neck; poetic/literary trammel.
benefit, advantage.
25B6; verb lack of funding handicapped the research : HAMPER, impede, hinder, impair, hamstring; restrict, check, obstruct, block, curb, bridle, hold back, constrain, trammel, limit, encumber; informal stymie; N. Amer. informal bork.
help.