obstruent (redirected from obstruents)

ob·stru·ent  (bstr-nt)

adj.

Obstructing or closing natural openings or passages of the body.

n.

1. An obstruent medicine or agent.

2. Linguistics A sound, such as a stop, fricative, or affricate, that is produced with complete blockage or at least partial constriction of the airflow through the nose or mouth.

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[Latin obstruns, obstruent-, present participle of obstruere, to obstruct; see obstruct.]

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obstruent [ˈɒbstrʊənt] Med

adj

(Medicine) causing obstruction, esp of the intestinal tract

n

(Medicine) anything that causes obstruction

[from Latin obstruere to obstruct]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

obstruent - a consonant that is produced with a partial or complete blockage of the airflow from the lungs through the nose or mouth consonant - a speech sound that is not a vowel occlusive, plosive, plosive consonant, plosive speech sound, stop consonant, stop - a consonant produced by stopping the flow of air at some point and suddenly releasing it; "his stop consonants are too aspirated" continuant, continuant consonant - consonant articulated by constricting (but not closing) the vocal tract affricate, affricate consonant, affricative - a composite speech sound consisting of a stop and a fricative articulated at the same point (as `ch' in `chair' and `j' in `joy')