O B S 
37S 
OBSIG'NATORY, adj. Ratifying.—-Merely oljigna - 
tori) figns, Parr's Letters ofUJher. 
OBSKA'IA, a gulf or bay of Ruffia, in the Frozen 
Ocean, about 360 miles long,und from . 4 to 60 in breadth. 
Lat. 66. 40. to 72. 15. N. Ion. 72. to 76. E. 
OBSOLESCENT, adj. [ objolefcens , Lat.] Growing out 
cf ufe.—All the words compounded of here and a prepo- 
Jilion, are obfolefcent or obfolete. Ur. Johnfon. 
OB'SOLETE, adj. [ obfoletus , Lat.] Worn out of ufe; 
difufed ; unfafhionable.— Obfolete words may be laudably 
revived, when they are more founding, or more fignificant, 
than thofe in practice. Dri/den. 
OB'SOLETENESS, J'. State of being worn out of ufe ; 
unfafhionablenefs.— The reader is embarrafled at once 
with dead and with foreign languages, with aibfoletenefs 
and innovation. Dr. Johnfon. 
OB'STACLE, f. [Fr. from objlaculum, Lat.] Something 
oppofed ; hindrance ; obftru&ion.—Difparity in age feems 
a greater objlacle to an intimate friendffiip than inequality 
of fortune. For the humours, bufinefs, and diverfions, of 
young and old, are generally very different. Collier on 
Friendjhip .—What more natural and ufual obftacle to thofe 
who take voyages, than winds and ftorms ? Pope. 
Confcience is a blufhing ffiame-fac’d fpirit, 
That mutinies in a man’s bofom : it fills 
One full of obftacles. Shakejpsare's Rich. III. 
OBS'TANCY, f. \_obJlantia, Lat.] Oppofition ; impe¬ 
diment; obftruflion. Not in ufe. —After marriage it is of 
no offtancy, B. Joifon's Epicoene. 
OB'STANT, adj. Hindering ; obftrufling. 
OBSTET'RIC, adj. [from objletrix, Lat.] Midwififli; 
befitting a midwife; doing the midwife’s office : 
There, all the learn’d ffiail at the labour ftand, 
And Douglas lend his foft objletrick hand. Pope. 
To OBSTET'RICATE, v.n. [ obftetricor , Lat.] To per¬ 
form the office of a midwife.—Nature does obftetricate , 
and do that office of herfelf, when it is the proper feafon. 
Evelyn. 
To OBSTET'RICATE, v. a. To affift as a midwife.— 
None fo obfletricated the birth of the expedient to anfwer 
both Brute and his Trojans’ advantage. Waterlious on 
Fortefine, 1663. 
OBSTETRICA'TION, f. The office of a midwife.— 
There he mull lie, in an uncouth poflure, for his ap¬ 
pointed month, till the native bonds being loofed, and the 
doors forced open, he ffiail be, by an helpful obftetrication , 
drawn forth into the larger prifon of the world. Bp. Hall's 
Free Prifoner. 
OB'STINACY, f. [oljlination, Fr. ob/linatio, Lat. from 
objlinate .] Stubbornnefs; contumacy; pertinacy ; perfif- 
tency.—Mod writers ufe their words loofely and uncer¬ 
tainly, and do not make plain and clear deduftions of 
words one from another; which were not difficult to do, 
did they not find it convenient to fhelter their ignorance, 
or objlinacy, under the obfcurity of their terms. Locke. 
What crops of wit and honefty appear, 
From fpleen, from objlinacy, hate, or fear. Pope. 
OB'STINATE, adj. [ objlinatus , Lat.] Stubborn ; con¬ 
tumacious; fixed in refolution. Abfolutely ufed, it has 
an ill fenfe; but relatively, it is neutral.—I have known 
great cures done by oljlinate refolutions of drinking no 
wine. Temple. 
Her father did not fail to find 
In all ffie fpoke the greatnefs of her mind; 
Yet thought (lie was not obftinate to die, 
Nor deem’d the death ffie promis’d was fo nigh. Dryden. 
GB'STINATELY, adv. Stubbornly ; inflexibly ; with 
unffiaken determination.—Pembroke abhorred war as ob- 
Jlinateli) as he loved hunting and hawking. Clarendon. 
The man refolv’d, and Heady to his truft. 
Inflexible to ill, and obftinately juft, 
Can the rude rabble’s influence defpife. Addifon. 
O B 8 
OB'STINATENESS, /! Stubbornnefs.—We had like 
to have forgotten the neck and fhoulders of the world-, 
which have an ill-fafliion of ftiffnefs and inflexible obj'ti- 
natenefs, ftubbornly refufing to (loop to the yoke of the 
Law or the Gofpel. Bp. Hall's Fajhions of the World. 
To OB'STIPATE, v. a. [from the Lat. ob, againft, and; 
ftipo, to ftuffi] To fill up, to fill up chinks. Baileij. 
QBSTIPA'TION, f. [from objlipo, Lat.] The aft of 
flopping up any paflage. A ftoppage. 
OBSTREPEROUS, adj. [ objtreperus , Lat.] Loud ; 
clamorous; noify; turbulent; vociferous.—Thefe obftre- 
perous fcepticks are the bane of divinity, who are fo full of 
the fpirit of contradiftion, that they raife daily new dif- 
putes. Howel's Voc. For. —The players do not only con¬ 
nive at his objtreperous approbation, but repair at their own 
coft whatever damages he makes. Addifon's Spectator. 
OBSTREPEROUSLY, adv. Loudly 5 clamoroufly : 
noifily. 
OBSTREP'EROUSNESS,y! Loudnefs; clamour; noife; 
turbulence. 
_ OBSTRIC'TION, f [from objlriaus, Lat.] Obliga¬ 
tion ; bond.—He hath full right to exempt whom fo it 
pleafes him, by choice, from national objlritfion. Milton. 
To OBSTRUCT', v. a. [ob/iruo, Lat.] To block up; to 
bar. —In their paflage through the glands in the lungs, 
they obftrutf and (well them with little tumours. Black- 
more. 
He then beholding, foon 
Comes down to fee their city, ere the tower 
Obflrud heaven’s towers. Milton's P. L. 
To oppofe; to retard; to hinder; to be in the way of: 
No cloud interpos’d. 
Or ftar, to objirud his fight. Milton's P. L. 
OBSTRUC'TER, J'. One that hinders or oppofes.—O 
bleft objiruder of juftice ! Whitlock. 
OBSTRUCTION, f. Hindrance; difficulty: 
Sure God, by thefe difcoveries, did defign 
That his clear light thro’ all the world fhould flrine ; 
But the objtrudion from that difcord fprings. 
The prince of darknefs makes ’twixt Chrillian kings. 
Denham. 
Obftacle; impediment; that which hinders.—All objlrac¬ 
tions in parliament, that is, all freedom in differing in 
votes, and debating matters with reafon and candour, 
mult be taken away. King Charles. —Whenever a popular 
aflembly, free from obftrudions, and already poflefled of 
more power than an equal balance will allow, ffiail con¬ 
tinue to think that they have not enough, I cannot fee 
how the fame caufes can produce different effedls among 
us, from what they did in Greece and Rome. Swift .— 
The blocking-up of any canal in the human body, fo as 
to prevent the flowing of any fluid through it, on account 
of the increafed bulk of that fluid, in proportion to the 
diameter of the veflel.— Obf radians are the caufe of moll 
difeafes. Herbert's Country Parfon. — In Shakefpeare it 
once fignifies fomething heaped together : 
Aye, but to die, and go we know not where; 
To lie in cold obftrudion, and to rot; 
This fenfible warm motion to become 
A kneaded clod. MeaJ'urefor MeaJ'ure. 
OBSTRUCTIVE, adj. Hindering; caufing impedi¬ 
ment.—Fleffi, being immoderately taken, is exceeding ob- 
ftrudive. Herbert's Country Parfon. 
OBSTRUCTIVE, J'. Impediment; obftacle.—The fe- 
cond obftrudive is that of the fiduciary, that faith is the 
only inftrument of his juftification, and excludes good 
works from contributing anything toward it. Hammond. 
OBSTRUCTIVENESS, / The quality which tends to 
obftrudtion. 
OB'STRUENT, adj, [objlruens , Lat.] Hindering; 
blocking-up. 
OBSTRUEN'TIA,/ Medicines which have a tendency 
to clofe up the palfages. Scott. 
z OBSTUPEFAC'TION, 
