as in obstacles
something that makes movement or progress difficult
the only stumbling block to our move across the country was finding someone to adopt our cats
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Recent Examples of stumbling blocks
One of the stumbling blocks — the principal stumbling block — to his doing more with Presley was the boy’s manager, Bob Neal, who seemed infuriatingly unsusceptible to persuasion, promotion, or even recognition of his own (let alone his artist’s) ever-increasing opportunities.
—
Jem Aswad, Variety, 5 Aug. 2025
Jem Aswad, Variety, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbling blocks
Noun
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Many obstacles remain to a lasting peace — including whether Israel will pull its military entirely out of Gaza, whether Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza — but the peace plan may already be shifting the debate around calls to ban and boycott culture coming out of Israel.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Oct. 2025
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The batarangs could hit long-range targets, while the bat-claw brought far-away enemies to Batman and could yank obstacles off walls.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Deployment barriers and open challenges Despite the promise, significant hurdles remain before enzymatic recycling can go industrial.—
Srishti Gupta,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Oct. 2025
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Challenges and next steps Beyond regulation, the biggest hurdles are price, production scale and consumer acceptance, McClements said.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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If possible, position yourself in a flat, open area with minimal tree cover, rocks, cliffs, or other obstructions that may block the sound of the whistle.—
Owen Clarke,
Outside,
1 Oct. 2025
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In 2025, Roborock launched a vacuum cleaner with a robotic arm for moving socks and other obstructions out of the way.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
21 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The barriers today are political will, cost, and geopolitics, not technical impossibility.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
17 Oct. 2025
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Cassellius said state lawmakers should take another look at pension rules and remove barriers that stop retirees from returning to teach.—
Rory Linnane,
jsonline.com,
17 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stumbling blocks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumbling%20blocks. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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