He . . . wrenched out the hook with the short wooden stick he called a “gobstick.” Kipling. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A spoon. [ Prov. Eng. or Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A stick, cane, or club terminating in a knob; esp., such a stick or club used as a weapon or missile; a knobkerrie. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. As a term of opprobrium or contempt: A gullible, awkward, bungling, or undesirable person. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Lobster caterpillar (Zool.), the caterpillar of a European bombycid moth (Stauropus fagi); -- so called from its form.
Lobster louse (Zool.), a copepod crustacean (Nicothoë astaci) parasitic on the gills of the European lobster. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A lobster (Homarus americanus) found off the Atlantic coast of North America.
Syn. -- American lobster, Northern lobster, Homarus americanus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. (Law) A clause in old English statutes and letters patent, importing a license from the crown to do a thing notwithstanding any statute to the contrary. This dispensing power was abolished by the Bill of Rights. [ 1913 Webster ]

In this very reign [ Henry III. ] the practice of dispensing with statutes by a non obstante was introduced. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

Non obstante veredicto [ LL. ] (Law), a judgment sometimes entered by order of the court, for the plaintiff, notwithstanding a verdict for the defendant. Stephen. [ 1913 Webster ]

If all obstacles were cut away.
And that my path were even to the crown. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Impediment; obstuction; hindrance; difficulty. See Impediment, and Obstruction. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to obstetrics; as, the obstetric unit of a hospital. [ PJC ]

Obstetrical toad (Zool.), a European toad of the genus Alytes, especially Alytes obstetricans. The eggs are laid in a string which the male winds around his legs, and carries about until the young are hatched. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yet is all human teaching but maieutical, or obstetricious. Cudworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The branch of medicine that deals with childbirth or the care of women in parturition, or in the trouble incident to childbirth. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

You do not well in obstinacy
To cavil in the course of this contract. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To shelter their ignorance, or obstinacy, under the obscurity of their terms. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The quality or state of being difficult to remedy, relieve, or subdue; as, the obstinacy of a disease or evil. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Pertinacity; firmness; resoluteness; inflexibility; persistency; stubbornness; perverseness; contumacy. -- Obstinacy, Pertinacity. Pertinacity denotes great firmness in holding to a thing, aim, etc. Obstinacy is great firmness in holding out against persuasion, attack, etc. The former consists in adherence, the latter in resistance. An opinion is advocated with pertinacity or defended with obstinacy. Pertinacity is often used in a good sense; obstinacy generally in a bad one. “In this reply was included a very gross mistake, and if with pertinacity maintained, a capital error.” Sir T. Browne. “Every degree of obstinacy in youth is one step to rebellion.” South. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have known great cures done by obstinate resolution of drinking no wine. Sir W. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

No ass so meek, no ass so obstinate. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of sense and outward things. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not yielding; not easily subdued or removed; as, obstinate fever; obstinate obstructions. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Stubborn; inflexible; immovable; firm; pertinacious; persistent; headstrong; opinionated; unyielding; refractory; contumacious. See Stubborn. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Ob"sti*nate*ly, adv. -- Ob"sti*nate*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) Extreme constipation. [ Obs. ] Hooper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beating the air with their obstreperous beaks. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Resistant to control; unruly. [ PJC ]

-- Ob*strep"er*ous*ly, adv. -- Ob*strep"er*ous*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To block up; to stop up or close, as a way or passage; to place an obstacle in, or fill with obstacles or impediments that prevent or hinder passing; as, to obstruct a street; to obstruct the channels of the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T is the obstructed paths of sound shall clear. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be, or come, in the way of; to hinder from passing; to stop; to impede; to retard; as, the bar in the harbor obstructs the passage of ships; clouds obstruct the light of the sun; unwise rules obstruct legislation. “Th' impatience of obstructed love.” Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To bar; barricade; stop; arrest; check; interrupt; clog; choke; impede; retard; embarrass; oppose. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which obstructs or impedes; an obstacle; an impediment; a hindrance. [ 1913 Webster ]

A popular assembly free from obstruction. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The condition of having the natural powers obstructed in their usual course; the arrest of the vital functions; death. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To die, and go we know not where,
To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Obstacle; bar; barrier; impediment; clog; check; hindrance. -- Obstruction, Obstacle. The difference between these words is that indicated by their etymology; an obstacle is something standing in the way; an obstruction is something put in the way. Obstacle implies more fixedness and is the stronger word. We remove obstructions; we surmount obstacles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Disparity in age seems a greater obstacle to an intimate friendship than inequality of fortune. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ]

The king expected to meet with all the obstructions and difficulties his enraged enemies could lay in his way. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]