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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Obstacle \Ob"sta*cle\, noun [F., fr. L. obstaculum, fr. obstare to withstand, oppose; ob (see {Ob-}) + stare to stand. See {Stand}. and cf. {Oust}, v.] That which stands in the way, or opposes; anything that hinders progress; a hindrance; an obstruction, physical or moral.
If all obstacles were cut away. And that my path were even to the crown. --Shak.
Syn: Impediment; obstuction; hindrance; difficulty. See {Impediment}, and {Obstruction}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
obstacle
noun
1: something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted; "lack of immagination is an obstacle to one's advancement"; "the poverty of a district is an obstacle to good education"; "the filibuster was a major obstruction to the success of their plan" [syn: {obstruction}]
2: an obstruction that stands in the way (and must be removed or surmounted or circumvented)
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "obstacle": bar, barrier, blank wall, blind alley, blind gut, block, blockade, blockage, bottleneck, catch, cecum, check, choking, choking off, clog, congestion, constipation, cordon, costiveness, crimp, cul-de-sac, curtain, dead end, determent, deterrent, difficulty, disincentive, drawback, embolism, embolus, gorge, hamper, hang-up, hazard, hindrance, hitch, hurdle, impasse, impediment, infarct, infarction, jam, joker, mountain, objection, obstipation, obstruction, obstructive, one small difficulty, rub, sealing off, snag, stop, stoppage, strangulation, stumbling, stumbling block, stumbling stone
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |