obturate

/ˌɑbtəˈreɪt/

Other forms: obturating; obturated; obturates

To obturate is to block an opening. Your dentist may obturate the hole where she performed a root canal. If she doesn't, you'll be in some serious pain.

The verb obturate is really more formal or technical than an everyday word like "block" or "obstruct," but you can use it as a substitute if you want to. It's more often used to describe the mechanism of a firearm, in which a bullet is designed to obturate the inside of a gun's barrel, increasing the pressure with which it's fired. The Latin root, obturat, means "stopped up."

Definitions of obturate

1. verb

   block passage through
   synonyms: block, close up, impede, jam, obstruct, occlude

   types:

   block off, blockade

   obstruct access to

   barricade, barricado

   block off with barricades

   barricade

   prevent access to by barricading

   asphyxiate, choke, stifle, suffocate

   impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of

   tie up

   restrain from moving or operating normally

   dam, dam up

   obstruct with, or as if with, a dam

   block out, screen

   prevent from entering

   earth up, land up

   block with earth, as after a landslide

   bar, barricade, block, block off, block up, blockade, stop

   render unsuitable for passage

   back up, choke, choke off, clog, clog up, congest, foul

   become or cause to become obstructed

   gum up

   stick together as if with gum

   block off, close off, shut off

   block off the passage through

   shade

   protect from light, heat, or view

   close

   bar access to

   crap up

   become obstructed or chocked up

   block, choke up, lug, stuff

   obstruct

   silt, silt up

   become chocked with silt

   type of:

   hinder, impede

   be a hindrance or obstacle to