7 uses
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Definition
to block or hinder
The exact meaning of obstruct can depend upon its context. For example:
- "obstruct the path" — block passage through
- "obstruct justice" — hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of
- "obstruct her view" — get in the way so as to hide from sight
- We must not let vulgar difficulties obstruct our feeling that it's a noble plan motivated solely by the public welfare.2.6 Part 2 Chapter 6 — Miracle Metal (1% in)
- ...sound that broke off, like a mountain rockslide, all contact with the time behind her-to the circling fall of a blade that vanished in a fragile sparkle of whirling air that cut the space ahead-to the start for the runway-to the brief pause-then to the forward thrust-to the long, perilous run, the run not to be obstructed, the straight line ran that gathers power by spending it on a harder and harder and ever-accelerating effort, the straight line to a purpose-to the moment, unnoticed.2.10 Part 2 Chapter 10 — The Sign of the Dollar (83% in)
- He was going southeast, toward the highest mountains that obstructed the path of the sun.2.10 Part 2 Chapter 10 — The Sign of the Dollar (93% in)
- He saw her looking at him, her glance half-question, half-hope, and he added, "When the creed of self-immolation has run, for once, its undisguised course-when men find no victims ready to obstruct the path of justice and to deflect the fall of retribution on themselveswhen the preachers of self-sacrifice discover that those who are willing to practice it, have nothing to sacrifice, and those who have, are not willing any longer-when men see that neither their hearts nor their muscles...3.1 Part 3 Chapter 1 — Atlantis (94% in)
- He pushed him out of his way, not roughly, but with a simple, smooth sweep of his arm, as one brushes aside an obstructing curtain, then walked out.3.6 Part 3 Chapter 6 — The Concerto of Deliverance (67% in)
- ...in a laboratory by means of test tubes and logic is an old-fashioned, superstitious fool; a true scientist is a man who goes around taking public polls-and if it weren't for the selfish greed of the manufacturers of steel girders, who have a vested interest in obstructing the progress of science, you would learn that New York City does not exist, because a poll of the entire population of the world would tell you by a landslide majority that their beliefs forbid its existence.3.7 Part 3 Chapter 7 — "This is John Galt Speaking" (60% in)
- And now, as she rushed through the darkness, thinking only of finding a telephone booth, she felt a new sensation rising irresistibly within her, past the immediate tension of danger and concern: it was the sense of freedom of a world that had never had to be obstructed.3.9 Part 3 Chapter 9 — The Generator (50% in)
There are no more uses of "obstruct" in Atlas Shrugged.
Typical Usage
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