obstruct

t. [Lat. obstruct us, pa. par. of obstruo to build in the way of anything: ob- = against, and struo to build.] 1. To block up, to stop, to close, to bar, as a way or pa age, by filling with obstacles or impediments to prevent pa ing. "The route of genius is not le obstructed with disappointment than that of ambition."-Goldsmith: Polite Learning, ch. x. 2888 2. To hinder, to retard, to keep back; to prevent from making progre ; to impede, to check. "If e'er thy youth has known the pangs of absence, Or felt th' impatience of obstructed love." Johnson: Irene , iii. 3. sun. 3. To hinder from pa ing; to impede, to interrupt, to stop; as, A cloud obstructs the light of the "'Tis he the obstructed paths of sound shall clear." Alex . Pope . "No cloud, or, to obstruct his sight, Star interposed." Milton: P. L., v. 257. *4. To be built up against; to reach to. ( Milton : P. L. , xii. 52.) ob-strŭc-ter, *ob-strŭc-tõr, subst . [English obstruct ; -er. One who or that which obstructs or hinders; an obstructive. "One of the chief obstructors of the union."- Baker : Charles II . (an. 1654).