OBSTACLE


Meaning of OBSTACLE in English

I. ˈäbz(ˌ)tikəl, -_tə̇k-, -tēk-; ˈäb(ˌ)stik-, -_stə̇k-, -stēk- noun

( -s )

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin obstaculum, from obstare to stand before, hinder, from ob- to, against + stare to stand — more at ob- , stand

1. : something that stands in the way or opposes : something that hinders progress : a physical or moral impediment or obstruction : hindrance

2. obsolete : opposition , resistance

Synonyms:

obstacle , obstruction , impediment , bar , and snag can signify, in common, something which hampers or stops action or progress. obstacle applies to anything which stands in one's way or stops passage

the removal of an obstacle in the throat — F.D.Smith & Barbara Wilcox

the poverty of some of the … districts is an obstacle to good education — B.K.Sandwell

those obstacles, placed in the path of westward-marching pioneers by nature, must be surmounted before the continent was settled — R.A.Billington

obstruction stresses a blocking of the way or passage

can only be used in straight stretches of water where there are no obstructions — W.H.Dowdeswell

science deals with a psychological complex much as it deals with an obstruction in the bowels — Albert Dasnoy

circumvent the obstructions placed in the way of emigration — American Guide Series: New York

impediment , often interchangeable with obstacle , usually suggests something that hinders or delays as by entangling

the rugged hills of the peninsula were no impediment to the discharge of his clerical duties — American Guide Series: Maine

the most important impediment … to reform, perhaps, is the number and diversity of the plans which have been submitted as possible cures — R.M.Dawson

the increasing impediments to international trade — D.W.Brogan

bar implies something interposed as between a person and his goal

there were, of course, no bars against immigration in those days — Paul Blanshard

difference in language should be no bar to friendship

snag applies to an obstacle or a delay encountered suddenly and unexpectedly

his plan to build hit its first snag in the building code

the operations were constantly running into legal snags which delayed progress considerably

II. adjective

obsolete : obstinate

III. pronunc at n transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: obsolete French obstacler, from French obstacle, n., from Middle French

: to resist or harass with obstacles

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.