noun
definition
Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress
example
A big obstacle to understanding the manual was that it had been poorly translated from the Japanese.
Examples of obstacle in a Sentence
It would remove the obstacle between you and your mate.
This friend had not considered it an obstacle to ordination.
There was no obstacle to the continued exercise of his firm and reasonable will.
The back of the greatest obstacle in the path of progress is broken.
The greatest obstacle to agriculture is lack of water.
The adoption issue that had been an obstacle for Carmen so long now appeared to be fair in her eyes.
Hopefully, hopefully, that would be the largest obstacle Evelyn faced in explaining the situation to her.
Despite being over six feet tall, Charles was no more of an obstacle than Jessi's small body.
You don't trash a marriage the first time an obstacle comes along.
Even Alex had to know that was a major obstacle.
On the electromagnetic theory, the problem of diffraction becomes definite when the properties of the obstacle are laid down.
Some mysterious obstacle intervened.
It was obviously no obstacle, considering you've got your coffee and your bed is empty.
Evelyn removed the obstacle from the door and snagged the tarantula cat as it darted past her.
In Italy public opinion as a whole was favorable to the visit, especially as it was not considered an obstacle to the projected increase of the army and navy.
To the south the rivulet of the Mance soon forms a formidable obstacle as its bed cuts its way through the sandstone.
The principal obstacle, however, was the incompatibility of the popes' Byzantine and Italian policies.
Their biggest obstacle is learning to appreciate their inner self as much as their outer shell.
The Po, however, forms somewhat of an obstacle, but is crossed by the main lines to Modena and Bologna near Mantua and Rovigo respectively.
Every obstacle was opposed to the collection of the taxes which had been voted to put the kingdom in a state of defence.
The delay, together with the proposal of John Jay, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs and commissioner to negotiate a commercial treaty with the Spanish envoy, to surrender navigation rights on the lower Mississippi for twenty-five years in order to remove the one obstacle to the negotiations, aroused so much feeling that General James Wilkinson and a few other leaders began to intrigue not only for a separation from Virginia, but also from the United States, and for the formation of a close alliance with the Spanish at New Orleans.
This uncertainty in the wheat crop extends to the southern limits of the higher plateau, and is a serious obstacle to the increased production of this cereal.
With ordinary horses, however, it is a good general rule to ride at fences of all descriptions as slowly as the nature of the obstacle admits.
This evidently prevents substances not intended for food getting into the mouth, as when the animal is engaged in gnawing through an obstacle.
The lowlands of Britain, with their partly Romanized and partly scanty population and their easy physical features, presented no obstacle.
Not only was its very existence an obstacle to .the T he Parcy a n d the spread of their temporal power in the peninsula, Norman but it frequently acted in concert with the pope 's Kingdom enemies and thwarted the papal policy.
The obstacle due to lack of coal is offset by the splendid water powers 'afforded by the rapid streams in all parts of the province.
The great bulk of the code was an obstacle to the multiplication of copies of it, whilst the necessity for them was in a great degree superseded by the publication from time to time of synopses and encheiridia of its contents, composed by the most eminent jurists, of which a very full account will be found in the Histoire au droit byzantin, by the advocate Mortreuil, published in Paris in 1846.
The river was a serious obstacle; the Italian defence was sound; it was clear that prolonged and careful preparation was necessary.
Further, a number of statutes were passed with the object of putting every possible obstacle in the way of Catholics educating their children in their own creed, or of inheriting or buying land.
To meet this obstacle P. Manhes proposed elevated side tuyeres, which could be kept clear by punching through gates in a wind box.
The antiquated Riksdag, where the privileged estates predominated, while the cultivated middle class was practically unrepresented, had become an insuperable obstacle to all free development; but, though the Riksdag of 1840 itself raised the question, the king and the aristocracy refused to entertain it.
The higher plateau is devoted almost exclusively to cattleraising, once the principal industry of the state, though recurring seccas have been an insuperable obstacle to its profitable development.
With the elimination of the republics one great obstacle to federation was removed; while the establishment of self-government in the new colonies, promised (after a probationary period of " representative institutions") in No.
However, the younger Stoics endeavoured to meet the assaults of their persistent critic Carneades by suggesting various modes of testing a single presentation, to see whether it were consistent with others, especially such as occurred in groups, &c.; indeed, some went so far as to add to the definition " coming from a real object and exactly corresponding with it " the clause " provided it encounter no obstacle."
Cromwell's fall was the result, and the chief obstacle to the repudiation of his wife being thus removed, Henry declared the marriage had not been and could not be consummated; and did not scruple to cast doubts on his wife's honour.
In the earlier stages of approximation the obstacle thus arising may not be important; but when the thickness of the layer of air is reduced to the point at which the colours of thin plates are visible, the approximation must be sensibly resisted by the viscosity of the air which still remains to be got rid of.
The second obstacle is surmounted by the aid of the stroboscopic method of observation, the light being intermittent in the period of vibration, so that practically only one phase is seen.
The rapids, or porogs, form a serious obstacle to navigation; it is only for a few weeks when the river is in flood that they are passable, and even then the venture is not without risk and can only be undertaken with the assistance of special pilots.
Before the obstacle to his admission was overcome, he had received a remarkable accession to his private fortune.
The Salween cuts the British Shan States nearly in half, and is a very formidable natural obstacle.
The avowed object of the Free State was to develop the resources of the territory with the aid of the natives, but it early became apparent that the Arab slave-traders, who had established themselves in the country between Lake Tanganyika and Stanley Falls and on the upper river, opposed a serious obstacle to the realization of this programme.
The pass over the Karakoram (18,500 ft.) is the most formidable obstacle on the main trade route between Leh and Kashgar.
But the first obstacle to be dealt with was the presence of the enemy within the walls.
Besides this, the extreme unhealthiness of its most productive regions, the Choco and Barbacoas districts on the Pacific slope, has been a serious obstacle to foreign enterprise.
Civil wars have of course been a serious obstacle, but it was announced by President Reyes in 1907 that the revenues were increasing.
There is just one obstacle in the way of confederation, and that is the British flag.
The privileged position of the Cape native was seen to be an obstacle to the federation of South Africa.
She herself grew more cautious and conservative than ever, and was regarded as an obstacle by the hotheads in war and religion.
By the management of the princewho later in the reign was known as the prince consortthe great ladies of the household voluntarily tendered their resignations; and every obstacle to the formation of the new government was in this way removed.