obstruct

obstruct

English

Etymology

From Latin past participle stem obstruct- (“blocked up”), from verb obstruere, from ob (“against”) + struere (“pile up, build”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əbˈstɹʌkt/
• Rhymes: -ʌkt

Verb

obstruct (third-person singular simple present obstructs, present participle obstructing, simple past and past participle obstructed)

1. To block or fill (a passage) with obstacles or an obstacle. See synonyms at block.
2. To impede, retard, or interfere with; hinder.

   They obstructed my progress.

3. To get in the way of so as to hide from sight.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hinder

Derived terms

• obstructed
• obstructedly
• unobstructed
• unobstructedly

Related terms

▼ <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:English_terms_derived_from_the_PIE_root_*strew-' title='Category:English terms derived from the PIE root *strew-'>English terms derived from the PIE root *strew-</a>‎ (0 c, 20 e)

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/construct' title='construct'>construct</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/constructible' title='constructible'>constructible</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/construction' title='construction'>construction</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/constructional' title='constructional'>constructional</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/constructionism' title='constructionism'>constructionism</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/constructive' title='constructive'>constructive</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/constructivism' title='constructivism'>constructivism</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/constructivist' title='constructivist'>constructivist</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/constructor' title='constructor'>constructor</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/construe' title='construe'>construe</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/destroy' title='destroy'>destroy</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/destruct' title='destruct'>destruct</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/destructible' title='destructible'>destructible</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/destruction' title='destruction'>destruction</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/destructive' title='destructive'>destructive</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/destructively' title='destructively'>destructively</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/destructiveness' title='destructiveness'>destructiveness</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/destructivity' title='destructivity'>destructivity</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/obstruct' title='obstruct'>obstruct</a>

  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/obstruction' title='obstruction'>obstruction</a>

Translations

To block or fill (a passage)

Catalan: obstruir (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 擋住 (zh), 挡住 (zh) (dǎngzhù) Finnish: tukkia (fi) French: obstruer (fr) German: behindern (de), versperren (de) Italian: ostruire (it) Japanese: ふさぐ (fusagu)

Maori: whakaapi Portuguese: obstruir (pt), trancar (pt), entupir (pt) Romanian: înfunda (ro), obtura (ro), astupa (ro) Russian: (e.g. view) заслоня́ть (ru) impf (zaslonjátʹ), заслони́ть (ru) pf (zaslonítʹ), (e.g. road) загора́живать (ru) impf (zagoráživatʹ), загороди́ть (ru) pf (zagorodítʹ) Serbo-Croatian: zapriječiti (sh) Spanish: entorpecer (es), estorbar (es), atorar (es), obstruir (es) Vietnamese: chắn (vi)

To impede, retard, or interfere with

Catalan: obstruir (ca) Finnish: estää (fi) French: bloquer (fr), retarder (fr), interférer (fr) Italian: ostacolare (it) Korean: 먹통 (meoktong) Maori: whakahōtaetae, kōpeka, whakaapi

Portuguese: obstruir (pt) Romanian: bloca (ro), împiedica (ro), întârzia (ro) Russian: препя́тствовать (ru) (prepjátstvovatʹ), меша́ть (ru) (mešátʹ) Serbo-Croatian: ometati (sh) Spanish: entorpecer (es), impedir (es), estorbar (es)

To get in the way of so as to hide from sight

Dutch: zicht belemmeren Finnish: peittää (fi) French: obstruer (fr), éclipser (fr) Italian: ostruire (it)

Portuguese: obstruir (pt), ocultar (pt), esconder (pt) Russian: загора́живать (ru) (zagoráživatʹ), заслоня́ть (ru) (zaslonjátʹ) Serbo-Croatian: zakloniti (sh) Spanish: esconder (es), ocultar (es)