to obturate
- verb
- /ˈɑːb.tʃə.reɪt/
- Specialized
:
obturador
- The dentist used a special material to obturate the root canal.
Examples
-
Mucus may obturate the nasal passage during a severe cold.
-
Engineers designed the valve to obturate the flow of gas in an emergency.
-
The dentist will obturate the tooth after the filling.
-
They obturated the pipe to prevent leaks.
-
Engineers designed the valve to obturate the flow of gas in an emergency.
-
Mucus may obturate the nasal passage during a severe cold.
-
The dentist used a special material to obturate the root canal.
Synonyms
∞
3.0
To stop movement, access, or progress
119
5.1
To block a path or view
47
3.9
Stop people from entering or leaving an area by blocking it
46
3.2
Push people or things together so they cannot move easily
42
4.8
To stop people from entering a place by putting up a barrier
24
3.9
Stop people or vehicles from entering a place
23
3.8
Close a road, path or entrance so people cannot go through
15
3.7
To bring the edges of something together so there is no gap
14
3.0
To stop light, sound, or air from coming in
9
6.0
To stop people and goods entering or leaving a place, often during war
6
6.4
To stop a supply by blocking its source or flow
5
8.4
Block an opening to stop the flow of liquid or air
4
3.8
To stop movement through a road, pipe, or path
1
4.6
Block a hole, pipe, or crack so nothing can pass through
1
5.8
To block a pipe or drain so water cannot pass through
To block a road or a river so nothing can pass
Surround something completely on all sides to shut it in
Surround something completely so it cannot get out or move
Antonyms
How Blocked
Surface Forms
Morphology
obturate = obtur + ate
Although formed with the Latinate verb-forming suffix '-ate', the root 'obtur' is not a recognizable English base for most learners, so the meaning must be learned largely as a whole.
Etymology
Obturate comes from the Latin obturare, which meant 'to stop up', and the start ob- means 'against' or 'over'. Think of obstruct, a common English word that also means to block, so to obturate is to close or block a passage, like sealing a pipe or filling a root canal.