obstacle

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noun ob·sta·cle \ ˈäb-sti-kəl , -ˌsti- \

Definition of obstacle

:something that impedes progress or achievement

Mosquitoes were a great obstacle to the building of the Panama Canal.

… elders … often facing daily medical, social, and psychological obstacles.
—Vicki Bloom and B. B. Green-Field

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See obstacle defined for kids

Examples of obstacle in a Sentence

He overcame the obstacles of poverty and neglect.
They must overcome a number of obstacles before the restaurant can be opened.
Lack of experience is a major obstacle for her opponent.
She swerved to avoid an obstacle in the road.

Recent Examples of obstacle from the Web

Melissa is the enemy — Frances and Nick’s romantic obstacle, and monogamy’s cautionary tale.

— meaghan o'connell, Longreads, "Girl Wonder," 20 July 2017
Running Orland Park: Pandemonium in the Park, a 5K obstacle course race, will be held Aug. 12 at Centennial Park West, near the intersection of 159th Street and 108th Avenue.

— Daily Southtown, "Sports calendar," 19 July 2017
Other parts of the local economy face fewer obstacles.

— dan mcswain, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Economy is finally back, but where's the joy?," 16 July 2017
The biggest hit of the morning was the finale: an elaborate full-court obstacle course that kids ran through one-by-one as the entire crowd cheered them on.

— danielle lerner, The Courier-Journal, "Former Louisville star Luke Hancock puts spotlight on autism with basketball clinic," 15 July 2017
But my biggest obstacle from perfectly even dices wasn’t myself.

— beejoli shah, Bon Appetit, "The Ultra-Basic Tool That Single-Handedly Turned Me Into a Home Cook," 12 July 2017
Troika can recognize its location inside the airport terminal and navigate around passers-by and obstacles, said Kim Hyoungrock, the chief research engineer at LG Electronics who oversaw the robot’s development.

— Washington Post, "Robots to aid tourists, clean floors at South Korean airport," 4 July 2017
NBN aims to minimize or remove the financial, logistical, professional and social obstacles that new immigrants to Israel face, according to the organization's website www.nbn.org.il.

— marvin glassman, Jewish Journal, "South Floridians making aliyah to Israel," 29 June 2017
Although ultimately successful, the research was not without obstacles.

— dyllan furness, Fox News, "First, lab-grown reptile skin -- next, mutant ninja turtles?," 29 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'obstacle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of obstacle

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin obstaculum, from obstare to stand in front of, from ob- in the way + stare to stand — more at ob-, stand

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First Known Use: 14th century

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