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/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌkt

Verb

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

(Can we add an example for this sense?)

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

   They obstructed my progress.

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

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hinder

Derived terms

• deobstruct
• obstruct the field
• obstructed
• obstructedly
• unobstructed
• unobstructedly

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *strew-‎ (0 c, 24 e)

Translations

To block or fill (a passage)

• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: سد (sadd)

• Bulgarian: запречвам (bg) (zaprečvam), преграждам (bg) (pregraždam)
• Catalan: obstruir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 擋住／挡住 (zh) (dǎngzhù), 阻擋／阻挡 (zh) (zǔdǎng)

• Czech: ucpat pf, zatarasit (cs) pf, zablokovat pf
• Finnish: tukkia (fi)
• French: obstruer (fr)
• German: behindern (de), versperren (de)
• Italian: ostruire (it)
• Japanese: ふさぐ (ja) (fusagu)
• Latin: obstō (la), obstruō
• 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

• Bulgarian: преча (bg) (preča), затруднявам (bg) (zatrudnjavam)
• Catalan: obstruir (ca)
• Czech: bránit (cs) impf, překážet (cs) impf
• Finnish: estää (fi)
• French: bloquer (fr), retarder (fr), interférer (fr)
• Italian: ostacolare (it)
• Korean: 먹통 (meoktong)
• Latin: obstō (la), officio
• 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)
• Yiddish: אָבסטרויִרן (obstruirn) (law)

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)