What does obstacle mean?

Definitions for obstacle
ˈɒb stə kəlob·sta·cle

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word obstacle.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. obstacle, obstructionnoun

    something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted

    "lack of imagination 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"

  2. obstaclenoun

    an obstruction that stands in the way (and must be removed or surmounted or circumvented)

Wiktionary

  1. obstaclenoun

    Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress

    A big obstacle to understanding the manual was that it had been poorly translated from the Japanese.

  2. Etymology: From obstacle.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Obstaclenoun

    Something opposed; hindrance; obstruction.

    Etymology: obstacle, Fr. obstaculum, Lat.

    Conscience is a blushing shame-fac’d spirit,
    That mutinies in a man’s bosom: it fills
    One full of obstacles. William Shakespeare, Rich. III.

    If all obstacles were cut away,
    And that my path were even to the crown,
    As the ripe reverence and due of birth. William Shakespeare, R. III.

    Disparity in age seems a greater obstacle to an intimate friendship than inequality of fortune. For the humours, business, and diversions, of young and old, are generally very different. Jeremy Collier, on Friendship.

    Some conjectures about the formation of sand-stone, the origin of mountains and islands, I am obliged to look into that they may not remain as obstacles to the less skilful. John Woodward, Nat. Hist.

    What more natural and usual obstacle to those who take voyages, than winds and storms. Alexander Pope.

Wikipedia

  1. Obstacle

    An obstacle (also called a barrier, impediment, or stumbling block) is an object, thing, action or situation that causes an obstruction. Different types of obstacles include physical, economic, biopsychosocial, cultural, political, technological and military.

ChatGPT

  1. obstacle

    An obstacle is something that impedes, hinders, or interrupts progress or achievement. This can be a physical barrier, a circumstance, a condition, or even a mental block, that stands in the way of accomplishing a goal, task or objective.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Obstacle

    that which stands in the way, or opposes; anything that hinders progress; a hindrance; an obstruction, physical or moral

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Obstacle

    ob′sta-kl, n. anything that stands in the way of or hinders progress: obstruction.—Obstacle race, a race in which obstacles have to be surmounted or circumvented. [Fr.,—L. obstaculumob, in the way of, stāre, to stand.]

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

  1. obstacle

    Any obstruction designed or employed to disrupt, fix, turn, or block the movement of an opposing force, and to impose additional losses in personnel, time, and equipment on the opposing force. Obstacles can exist naturally or can be man-made, or can be a combination of both.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'obstacle' in Nouns Frequency: #2414

How to pronounce obstacle?

How to say obstacle in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of obstacle in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of obstacle in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of obstacle in a Sentence

  1. Colin Strother:

    We need to end the circular firing squad and get to work. Our biggest obstacle to success is members of our own Democratic Party, we have one or two senators holding up big ticket items that we need to pass. We have a handful of the far left in the House who have never done anything acting like they dictate the agenda and the timeline for bills passing.

  2. Hakeem Jeffries:

    There are complicating factors in connection with the negotiations that are ongoing, in part that involve some of the law enforcement organizations at the national level trying to torpedo the progress that has been made. And that’s quite unfortunate because we can’t have a situation where a genuine bipartisan effort to achieve police accountability, it’s actually written by those police organizations that we’re trying to hold accountable — that makes zero sense. And so this is an obstacle and a stumbling block, but not an unsurprising one, because we always knew that it would exist and I still believe that it can be overcome as part of the effort to transform policing in America.

  3. Ali Abedzadeh:

    The final obstacle in this area are only the permits from the U.S. Treasury Department.

  4. Steve Jones:

    It's a cumulative problem that creates an obstacle course for whales that only gets more cluttered year by year.

  5. The Hitopadesa:

    A feverish display of over-zeal, At the first outset, is an obstacle To all success; water, however cold, Will penetrate the ground by slow degrees.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

obstacle#10000#16523#100000

Translations for obstacle

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"obstacle." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/obstacle>.

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