3 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
- The customs of the provostship and the viscomty had not yet been worked over by President Thibaut Baillet, and by Roger Barmne, the king's advocate; they had not been obstructed, at that time, by that lofty hedge of quibbles and procedures, which the two jurisconsults planted there at the beginning of the sixteenth century.1.6.1 — Vol 1 Bk 6 Chpt 1 — An Impartial Glance at.... (92% in)
- We shall not try to give the reader an idea of that tetrahedral nose, that horseshoe mouth; that little left eye obstructed with a red, bushy, bristling eyebrow, while the right eye disappeared entirely beneath an enormous wart; of those teeth in disarray, broken here and there, like the embattled parapet of a fortress; of that callous lip, upon which one of these teeth encroached, like the tusk of an elephant; of that forked chin; and above all, of the expression spread over the...1.1.5 — Vol 1 Bk 1 Chpt 5 — Quasimodo (58% in)
- "Accursed Parisians!" he said to himself (for Gringoire, like a true dramatic poet, was subject to monologues) "there they are obstructing my fire!1.2.3 — Vol 1 Bk 2 Chpt 3 — Kisses for Blows (4% in)
There are no more uses of "obstruct" in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Typical Usage
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