of the anterior half of the spine of the ilium. From the anterior superior spinous process of that bone, the external oblique is stretched tendinous to the os pubis, forming what is called Poupart's, and sometimes Fallopius's ligament, Fallopius having first described it. Winslow, and many others, named it the inguinal ligament. But, after all, it has no claim to this name, it being nothing more than the tendon of the muscle, which is turned or folded inwards at its interior edge. It passes over the blood-vessels of the lower extremity, and is thickest near the pelvis; and in women, from the greater size of the pelvis, it is longer and looser than in men. Hence we find that women are most liable to crural hernia; whereas men, from the greater size of the ring of the external oblique, are most subject to the inguinal. Froin this ligament, and from that part of the tendon which forms the ring, we observe a detachment of tendinous fibres, which are lost in the fascia lata of the thigh. This may, in some measure, account for the pain which, in cases of strangulated hernia, is felt when the patient stands upright, and which is constantly relieved upon bending the thigh upwards. This muscle serves to draw down the Tibs in expiration; to bend the trunk forwards when both muscles act, or to bend it obliquely to one side, and, perhaps, to turn it slightly upon its axis, when it acts singly; it also raises the pelvis obliquely when the ribs are fixed; it supports and compresses the abdominal viscera, assists in the evacuation of the urine and fæces, and is likewise useful in parturition.

O. inferior capitis. This muscle is larger than the obliquus superior capitis. It is very obliquely situated between the two first vertebræ of the neck. It arises tendinous and fleshy from the middle and outer side of the spinous process of the second vertebra of the neck, and is inserted, tendinous and fleshy, into the lower and posterior parts of the transverse process of the first vertebra. Its use is to turn the first vertebra upon the second, as upon a pivot, and to draw the face towards the shoulder.

O. inferior oculi. Obliquus minor oculi of Winslow. An oblique muscle of the eye, that draws the globe of the eye forwards, inwards, and downwards. It arises by a narrow begin ning from the outer edge of the orbitar process of the superior maxillary bone, near its junction with the lachrymal bone, and running obliquely outwards, is inserted into the sclerotic membrane of the eye.

O. internus abdominis. This muscle, which is the obliquus ascendens of Vesalius and Douglas, and the obliquus minor of Haller, is situated immediately under the external oblique, and is broad and thin like that muscle, but somewhat less considerable in its extent. It arises from the spinous processes of the three inferior lumbar vertebræ, and from the posterior and middle part of the os sacrum, by a thin tendinous expansion, which is common to it and to the serratus posticus inferior; by short tous fibres, from the whole spine

of the ilium, between its posterior tuberosity and its anterior and superior spinous process; and from two-thirds of the posterior surface of what is called Fallopius's ligament, at the middle of which we find the round ligament of the uterus in women, and the spermatic vessels in men, passing under the thin edge of this muscle; and in the latter it likewise sends off some fibres, which descend upon the spermatic chord, as far as the tunica vaginalis of the testis, and constitute what is called the cremaster muscle, which surrounds, suspends, and compresses the testicle. From these origins, the fibres of the internal oblique run in different directions; those of the posterior portion ascend obliquely forwards, the middle ones become less and less oblique, and, at length, run in an horizontal direction, and those of the anterior portion extend obliquely downwards. The first of these are inserted, by very short tendinous fibres, into the cartilages of the fifth, fourth, and third of the false ribs; the fibres of the second, or middle portion, form a broad tendon, which, after being inserted into the lower edge of the cartilage of the second false rib, extends to wards the linea alba, and separates into two layers; the anterior layer, which is the thickest of the two, joins the tendon of the obliquus externus, and runs over the two upper thirds of the rectus muscle, to be inserted into the linea alba; the posterior layer runs under the rectus, adheres to the anterior surface of the tendon of the transversalis, and is inserted into the cartilages of the first of the false, and the last of the true ribs, and likewise into the linea alba. By this structure we may perceive that the greater part of the rectus is inclosed, as it were, in a sheath. The fibres of the anterior portion of the internal oblique, or those which arise from the spine of the ilium and the liga mentum Fallopii, likewise form a broad tendon, which, instead of separating into two layers like that of the other part of the muscle, runs over the lower part of the rectus, and adhering to the under surface of the tendon of the external oblique is inserted into the fore part of the pubis. This muscle serves to assist the obli quus externus; but it seems to be more evidently calculated than that muscle is to draw the ribs downwards and backwards. It likewise serves to separate the false ribs from the true ribs, and from each other.

O. major abdominis. See OBLIQUUS EX TERNUS ABDOMINIS.

O. major capitis. SeeOBLIQUUS INFERIOR

which, on account of its being much larger, be named obliquus major. Spigelius afterwards distinguished the two, from their situation with respect to each other, into superior and inferior; and in this he is followed by Cowper and Douglas. Winslow retains both names. That used by Albinus is here adopted. This little muscle, which is nearly of the same shape as the recti capitis, is situated laterally between the occiput and the first vertebra of the neck, and is covered by the complexus and the upper part of the splenius. It arises, by a short thick tendon, from the upper and posterior part of the transverse process of the first vertebra of the neck, and ascending obliquely inwards and backwards, becomes broader, and is inserted, by a broad flat tendon and some few fleshy fibres, into the os occipitis, behind the back part of the mastoid process, under the insertion of the complexus and splenius, and a little above that of the rectus major. The use of this muscle is to draw the head backwards, and perhaps to assist in its rotatory motion.

O. superior oculi. Trochlearís. Obliquus major of Winslow. An oblique muscle of the eye, that rolls the globe of the eye, and turns the pupil downwards and outwards. It arises like the straight muscles of the eye from the foramen opticum at the bottom of the orbit, between the rectus superior and rectus internus, from thence runs straight along the papyraceous portion of the ethmoid bone to the upper part of the orbit, where a cartilaginous trochlea is fixed to the inside of the internal angular process of the os frontis, through which its tendon passes, and runs a little downwards and outwards, inclosed in a loose membranaceous sheath, to be inserted into the sclerotic membrane. For the comparative powers and value of these muscles, see ANATOMY.

To OBLITERATE. v. a. (oblitero, Lat.) 1. To efface any thing written. 2. To wear out; to destroy; to efface (Hale).

OBLITERATION. s. (obliteratio, Latin.) Effacement; extinction (Hale).

2.

OBLIVION. s. (oblivio, Latin.) 1. Forgetfulness; cessation of remembrance. Amnesty; general pardon of crimes in a state (Davies).

OBLIVIOUS. a. (obliviosus, Lat.) Causing forgetfulness (Philips). OBLO'NG. a. (oblong, Fr. oblongus, Lat.) Longer than broad (Harris).

OBLONG SPHEROID, is that which is formed by an ellipse revolved about its longer or transverse axis; in contradistinction from the oblate spheroid, or that which is flatted at its poles, being generated by the revolution of the ellipse about its conjugate or shorter axis.

OBLONG LEAF. In botany. Cujus diameter longitudinalis aliquoties superat transversalem, et utraque extremitas segmento cir culi angustior. Having its longitudinal diameter several times exceeding the transverse one; rounded at both ends, but the curvature of each less than the segment of a circle. Applied also to the spike and capsule.

OBLO'NGLY, ad. (from oblong.) In an oblong form (Cheyne).

OBLO'NGNESS. s. (from oblong.) The state of being oblong.

OBLONGO-OVATE LEAF. An oblong-ovate leaf. Between both, but inclining most to the latter.

O'BLOQUY. s. (obloquor, Latin.) 1. Censorious speech; blame; slander (Daniel). 2. Cause of reproach; disgrace (Shakspeare). OBMUTE/SCENCE. s. (from obmutesco, Lat.) Loss of speech (Brown).

OBNOXIOUS. a. (obnoxius, Latin.) 1. Subject (Bacon.) 2. Liable to punishment (Calamy). 3. Reprehensible (Fell). 4. Liable; exposed (Hayward).

OBNOXIOUSLY. ad. In a state of subjection; in the state of one liable to punishment. OBNOXIOUSNESS. s. (from obnoxious.) Subjection; liableness to punishment. To OBNU BILATE. v. a. (obnubilo, Lat.) To cloud; to obscure.

OBOLARIA, in botany, a genus of the class didynamia, order angiospermia. Calyx two-cleft; corol four-cleft, campanulate; capsule one-celled, two-valved, many-seeded; stamens from the divisions of the corol. One species, a Virginian herb, with flowers in terminal spikes, clustered at top, pale red.

OBOLUS, an ancient silver money of Athens, the sixth part of a drachma; worth somewhat more than a penny-farthing sterling. The word comes from the Greek ofonos, or, spit, or broach; either because it bore such an impression; or because, according to Eustathius, it was in form thereof. But those now in the cabinets of the antiquaries are round.

OBOLUS, in medicine, is used for a weight of ten grains, or half a scruple.

OBOVATE LEAF. An inversely ovate leaf. Having the narrow end downwards; or next the petiole, branch, or stem.

OBRECHT (Ulric), a learned German, born 1646, at Strasburg. After finishing his travels, he settled at Strasburg, where he married the daughter of Boecler, whom he succeeded in the chairs of eloquence and history. On the conquest of Strasburg by Louis XIV. Obrecht changed his religion from protestant to Roman catholic, and was in consequence made, in 1685, president of the senate of his native town, with the title of prætor royal. He died of a fever 1701. He wrote Prodromus rerum Alsaticarum, 4to; Excerpta Historica, de Naturâ Successionis in Monarch. Hispan. 3 vols. 4to.; Quintilian, with notes, 2 vols. 4to; the Life of Pythagoras, from Iamblicus; de Vexillo Imperii; Dictys Cretensis, &c.

OBRE PTION. s. (obreptio, Lat.) The act of creeping on with secrecy or by surprise. To O'BROGATE. v. a. (obrogo, Latin.) To proclaim a contrary law for the dissolu tion of the former.

OBSCENE. a. (obscene, French.) 1. Immodest; not agreeable to chastity of mind;

causing lewd ideas (Milton). 2. Offensive; disgusting (Dryden). 3. Inauspicious; illomened (Dryden).

OBSCENELY. ad. In an impure and un

chaste manner.

OBSCENENESS. OBSCENITY. s. (obscenite, French; from obscene.) Impurity of thought or language; unchastity; lewdness (Dryden).

OBSCURATION. s. (obscuratio, Latin.) 1. The act of darkening. 2. A state of being darkened (Burnet).

OBSCU'RE. a. (obscurus, Latin.) 1. Dark; unenlightened; gloomy; hindering sight (Milton). 2. Living in the dark (Shakspeare). 3. Not easily intelligible; abstruse; difficult (Dryden). 4. Not noted; not observable (Atterbury).

1.

To OBSCURE. v. a. (obscuro, Latin.) To darken; to make dark (Pope). 2. To make less visible (Brown). 3. To make less intelligible (Holder). 4. To make less glorious, beautiful, or illustrious (Dryden). 5. To conceal; to make unknown (Milton).

OBSCURELY. ad. (from obscure.) 1. Not brightly; not luminously; darkly. 2. Out of sight; privately; without notice; not conspicuously (Addison). 3. Not clearly; not plainly (Milton).

OBSCURENESS. OBSCURITY. S. (obscuritas, Latin.) 1. Darkness; want of light (Donne). 2. Unnoticed state; privacy (Dryden). 3. Darkness of meaning (Locke). OBSECRATION. s. (obsecratio, Latin.) Intreaty; supplication (Stilling fleet).

O'BSEQUIES. s. (obseques, French.) 1. Funeral rites; funeral solemnities (Sidney). 2. It is found in the singular perhaps more properly (Milton).

OBSE QUIOUS. a. (from obsequium, Lat.) 1. Obedient; compliant; not resisting (Add.) 2. In Shakspeare, funeral.

OBSE QUIOUSLY. ad. (from obsequious.) 1. Obediently; with compliance (Dryden). 2. In Shakspeare, with funeral rites. OBSEQUIOUSNESS. s. (from obsequious.) Obedience; compliance (South). OBSERVABLE. a. (from observo, Latin.) Remarkable; eminent (Rogers). OBSERVABLY. ad. (from observable.) In a manner worthy of note (Brown).

OBSERVANCE. s. (observance, French.) 1. Respect; ceremonial reverence (Dryden). 2. Religious rite (Rogers). 3. Attentive practice (Rogers). 4. Rule of practice (Shakspeare). 5. Careful obedience (Rogers), 6. Observation; attention (Hale). 7. Obedient regard (Wotton).

OBSERVANT. a. (observans, Latin,) 1. Attentive; diligent; watchful (Raleigh), 2. Obedient; respectful (Digby). 3. Respectfully attentive (Pope). 4. Meanly dutiful; submissive (Raleigh).

OBSERVANT. s. A slavish attendant: ot in use (Shakspeare).

3SERVATION. s. (observatio, Latin.) e act of observing, noting, or remark

ing (Rogers). 2. Notion gained by observ. ing; note; remark; animadversion (Watts). 3. Obedience; ritual practice (White).

OBSERVATION, in astronomy and naviga tion, is the observing with an instrument some celestial phenomenon; as, the altitude of the sun, moon, or stars, or their distances asunder, &c. But by this term the seamen commonly mean only the taking the meridian altitudes, in order to find the latitude. And the finding the latitude from such observed altitude, they call working an observation.

OBSERVATOR. s. (observateur, French.) One that observes; a remarker (Dryden). OBSERVATORY, a place destined for ob serving the heavenly bodies; or a building, usually in form of a tower, erected on some eminence, and covered with a terrace, for making astronomical observations.

Most nations, at almost all times, have had their observatories, either public or private ones, and in various degrees of perfection. A description of a great many of them may be seen in a dissertation of Weidler's, De præsenti Specularum Astronomicarum Statu, printed in 1727, and in different articles of his History of Astronomy, printed in 1741, viz. page 86, &c.; as also in Lalande's Astronomy, the preface page 34. The chief among these are the following:

1. The Greenwich observatory, or royal observatory of England. This was built and endowed in the year 1676, by order of king Charles II. at the instance of sir Jonas Moore, and sir Christopher Wren: the former of these gentlemen being surveyor-general of the ord nance, the office of astronomer royal was placed under that department, in which it has continued ever since.

This observatory was at first furnished with several very accurate instruments; particularly a noble sextant of 7 feet radins, with telescopic sights. And the first astronomer royal, or the person to whom the province of observing was first committed, was Mr. John Flamsteed; a man who, as Dr. Halley expresses it, seemed born for the employment. During 14 years he watched the motions of the planets with unwearied diligence, especially those of the moon, as was given him in charge; that a new the ory of that planet being found, shewing all her irregularities, the longitude might thence be determined.

In the year 1690, having provided himself with a mural arch of near 7 feet radius, nade by his assistant Mr. Abraham Sharp, and fixed in the plane of the meridian, he began to verify his catalogue of the fixed stars, which had hitherto depended altogether on the distances measured with the sextant, after a new and very different manner, viz. by taking the meri dian altitudes, and the moments of culmina tion, or in other words the right ascension and declination. And he was so well pleased with this instrument, that he discontinued almost entirely the use of the sextant.

Thus, in the space of upwards of 40 years,

number of good observations; which may be found in his Historia Cœlestis Britannica, published in 1725; the principal part of which is the Britannic catalogue of the fixed stars. Mr. Flamsteed, on his death in 1719, was succeeded by Dr. Halley, and he by Dr. Bradley in 1742, and this last by Mr. Bliss in 1762; but none of the observations of these gentlemen have yet been given to the public.

On the demise of Mr. Bliss, in 1765, he was succeeded by Dr. Nevil Maskelyne, the late worthy astronomer royal, whose valuable observations have been published, from time to time, under the direction of the Royal Society, in several folio volumes. Of these observations Lalande speaks thus in his Astronomy (vol. ii. page 121), "Le recueil le plus moderne et le plus précieux de tous est celui de M. Maskelyne, Astronome Royal d'Angleterre, qui commence à 1765, et qui forme déja deux volumes en folio jusqu'à 1786. La precision de ces observations est si grande, qu'on trouve souvent la même seconde pour l'ascension droite d'une planete déduite de différentes étoiles, quoiqu'on y emploie la mesure du temps." His catalogue of fundamental stars is an invaluable treasure. These and his other numerous and various improvements in this science, made during the 46 years he was astronomer royal, entitled him to the most distinguished rank among both the critical and practical astronomers, and will render his name illustrious so long as astronomy shall continue to be cultivated.

This excellent astronomer and truly amiable man died in the spring of 1811, and was succeeded by Mr. J. Pond, F.R.S. known to the public as the translator of Laplace's Exposition du Systême du Monde: to whom our best wish is, that he may fill the situation in which he has recently been placed as long, as honourably, and as beneficially to astronomy and navigation, as his truly scientific predecessor.

The Greenwich observatory is found, by very accurate observations, to lie in 51° 28 40 north latitude, as settled by Dr. Maskelyne, from many of his own observations, as well as those of Dr. Bradley.

II. The Paris observatory was built by Louis XIV. in the fauxbourg St. Jaques, being begun in 1664, and finished in 1672. It is a singular but magnificent building, of 80 feet in height, with a terrace at top; and here M. De la Hire, M. Cassini, &c. the king's astronomers, have made their observations. Its latitude is 48° 50′ 14′′ north, and its longitude 9' 20 east of Greenwich observatory. In the observatory of Paris is a cave, or pit, 170 feet deep, with subterraneous passages, for experiments that are to be made out of the reach of the sun, especially such as relate to congelations, refrigerations, &c. In this cave there is an old thermometer of M. De la Hire, which stands always at the same height; thereby shewing that the temperature of the place remains always the same. From the top

III. Tycho Brahe's observatory was in the little island Ween, or the Scarlet Island, between the coasts of Schonen and Zealand, in the Baltic sea. This observatory was not well situated for some kinds of observations, particularly the risings and settings; as it lay too low, and was landlocked on all the points of the compass except three; and the land horizon being very rugged and uneven.

IV. Pekin observatory. Father Le Compte describes a very magnificent observatory, erected and furnished by the late emperor of China, in his capital, at the intercession of some jesuit missionaries, chiefly father Verbiest, whom he appointed his chief observer. The instruments here are exceeding large; but the divisions are less accurate, and, in some respects, the contrivance is less commodious than in those of the Europeans. The chief are, an armillary zodiacal sphere, of 6 Paris feet diameter, an azimuthal horizon 6 feet diameter, a large quadrant 6 feet radius, a sextant 8 feet radius, and a celestial globe 6 feet diameter.

V. Bramin's observatory at Benares, in the East Indies, which is still one of the principal seminaries of the Bramins or priests of the original Gentoos of Hindustan. This observatory at Benares it is said was built about 200 years since, by order of the emperor Ackbar: for as this wise prince endeavoured to improve the arts, so he wished also to recover the sciences of Hindustan, and therefore ordered that three such places should be erected; one at Delhi, another at Agra, and the third at Benares.

Wanting the use of optical glasses to magnify very distant or very small objects, these people directed their attention to the increasing the size of their instruments, for obtaining the greater accuracy and number of the divisions and subdivisions in their instruments. Accordingly, the observatory contains several huge instruments of stone, very nicely erected and divided, consisting of circles, columns, gnomons, dials, quadrants, &c. some of them of 20 feet radius, the circle divided first into 360 equal parts, and sometimes each of these into 20 other equal parts, each answering to 3′, and of about two-tenths of an inch in extent. And although these wonderful instruments have been built upwards of 200 years, the gra duations and divisions on the several arcs appear as well cut, and as accurately divided, as if they had been the performance of a modern artist. The execution in the construction of these instruments exhibits an extraordinary mathematical exactness in the fixing, bearing, fitting of the several parts, in the necessary and sufficient supports to the very large stones that compose them, and in the joining and fastening them into each other by means of lead and iron.

See a farther description and drawing of this observatory, by sir Robert Barker, in the

Philos. Trans. vol. Ixvii. page 598. or New Abridgment, vol. xvi. page 217, and vol. xvii. page 291. There are also good observatories at Lilienthal, at Dublin, and Oxford; and vaJuable private observatories at Blenheim; in Dr. Herschel's garden at Slough, and at Mr. Groombridge's, of Blackheath.

OBSERVATORY (Portable). See EQUA

TOREAL.

To OBSERVE. v. a. (observo, Latin.) 1. To watch; to regard attentively (Taylor). 2. To find by attention; to note (Locke). 3. To regard or keep religiously (Exodus). 4. To practise ritually (White). 5. To obey; to follow.

To OBSERVE. v. n. 1. To be attentive (Watts). 2. To make a remark (Pope).

OBSERVER. s. (from observe.) 1. One who looks vigilantly on persons and things; close remarker (Swift). 2. One who looks on; the beholder (South). 3. One who keeps any law, or custom, or practice (Bacon). OBSERVINGLY. ad. (from observing.) Attentively; carefully (Shakspeare).

OBSESSION. s. (obsessio, Latin.) 1. The act of besieging. 2. The first attack of Satan, antecedent to possession.

OBSIDIAN. Iceland agate. In mineralogy, a genus of the class earths, order siliceous. Colour pure black, passing into greenish and greyish black, blackish, blueish and greenish grey, and smoke-grey: found in mass, and in rough, roundish detached pieces; internally more or less shining and vitreous; fracture perfect, and large conchoidal; fragments indeterminately angular and sharpedged; hard, but easily frangible; before the blow-pipe melts without addition into a greyish-white, opake, somewhat porous enamel: : specific gravity 2, 34: contains

Silica Alumina Oxyd of iron

69

22

9

100

Bergman.

Found in large beds in the Lipari islands near Sicily, where it evidently passes into pumice; near Tokay in Hungary, in smokecoloured nodules in decomposing granite and porphyry-nodules sometimes called lux sapphire; found also near Hecla and in other parts of Iceland; in the island Melos in the Archipelago; near Grantola in the north of Italy; in Madagascar, Peru, and Siberia. Its origin is warmly contested between the Neptunians and Plutonians, many of the latter denominating it a vitreous lava.

From its hardness and opake blackness, and especially from the high polish of which it is capable, it is employed in various kinds of ornaments. The Spaniards, when they first conquered Peru, found it applied in that country to the purpose of mirrors; and it has since been fashioned in Europe into reflectors for telescopes.

OPSIDIONAL. a. (obsidionalis, Lat.) to a siege.

O'BSOLETE. a. (obsoletus, Latin.) Wor out of use; disused; unfashionable (Swift). OBSOLETENESS. s. (from obsolete.) State of being worn out of use; unfashionableness.

O'BSTACLE. s. (obstacle, French,) Some thing opposed; hinderance; obstruction (Collier).

OBSTETRICATION. s. (from obstetricor, Latin.) The office of midwife.

OBSTETRIC. a. from (obstetrix, Latin.) Midwifish; befitting a midwife; doing the midwife's office (Pope).

OBSTETRIC. (obstetricus, from obstetrix, a nurse.) Belonging to midwifery.

OBSTETRICS. The doctrines or practice of midwifery. The term, however, is employed in a larger signification than midwifery in its usual sense, which last is confined to the human female alone, while the former is often extended to the female of other animals, and especially of the mammal class. On this branch of obstetrics, the best directions with which we are acquainted are those given by Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Downing

O'BSTINACY. s. (obstinatio, Lat.) Stubbornness; contumacy; pertinacy; persistency (Locke).

OBSTINATE. a. (obstinatus, Lat.) Stubborn; contumacious; fixed in resolution (Shakspeare).

O'BSTINATELY. ad. (from obstinate.) Stubbornly; inflexibly (Clarendon). OBSTINATENESS. s. (from obstinate.)

Stubbornness.

OBSTIPATION. (obstipatio, from obstipo, to stop up.) Costiveness. A genus of disease in the class locales, and order epischeses of Cullen, comprehending three species: 1. Obstipatio debilium, in weak and commonly dyspeptic persons. 2. Obstipatio rigidorum, in persons of rigid fibres and a melancholy tem perament. 3. Obstipatio obstructorum, from obstructions. See COLICA.

OBSTRE PEROUS. a. (obstreperus, Lat.) Loud; clamorous; noisy; turbulent (Dryd.). OBSTRE PEROUSLY. ad. (from obstre perous.) Loudly; clamorously; noisily. OBSTRE PEROUSNESS. s. (from obstre perous.) Loudness; clamour; noise. OBSTRICTION. s. (from obstrictus, Lat.) Obligation; bond (Milton).

To OBSTRU’CT. v. a. (obstruo, Latin.) 1. To block up; to bar (Arbuthnot). 2. To oppose; to retard; to hinder; to be in the way of (Milton).

OBSTRUCTER. s. (from obstruct.) One that hinders or opposes.

OBSTRUCTION. s. (obstructio, Latin.) 1. Hinderance; difficulty (Denham). 2. Obstacle; impediment (Clarendon). 3. (In physic.) The blocking up of any canal in the body, so as to prevent the flowing of any fluid through it (Quincy). 4. In Shakspeare it once signifies something heaped together.

OBSTRUCTIVE. a. (obstructif, French.) Hindering; causing impediment (Hammond).