Obstruction

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of obstructing, or state of being obstructed. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    getting in someone's way wordnet
  3. 3
    Something which obstructs or impedes, either intentionally or unintentionally countable, uncountable

    "The referee stopped play because of an obstruction by the defender."

  4. 4
    the act of obstructing wordnet
  5. 5
    The condition of having the natural powers obstructed in their usual course; the arrest of the vital functions; death. countable, uncountable
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    any structure that makes progress difficult wordnet
  2. 7
    something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted wordnet
  3. 8
    the physical condition of blocking or filling a passage with an obstruction wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
obstaclebarrierclogdifficultyhindranceimpediment

Example

More examples

"The accusations are shocking: money laundering, tax evasion and obstruction of justice."

Etymology

From Latin obstructio (“hindrance”), from obstruo (“build against, block, stop”).

Related phrases

bowel obstructionintestinal obstructionnasal obstructionobstruction of justicepseudo-obstructionblocking waylonger version

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.