stumbling block
an obstacle or hindrance to progress, belief, or understanding.
Origin of stumbling block
1Other words for stumbling block
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use stumbling block in a sentence
Rouhani suggested that the only real stumbling blocks would come if his “counterparts” showed “a lack of will.”
The disputes have been major stumbling blocks for Croatia's accession into both NATO and the European Union.
Half of This Bar Is in Slovenia, the Other Half Is in Croatia | Jeff Campagna | January 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe stumbling blocks are not security, but rather the refugees and—you guessed it—the settlers.
It's Time to Think Creatively About Getting Settlers on the Side of Peace | Dan Goldenblatt | October 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTTwo pieces of advice that deal with what I think are the biggest stumbling blocks.
Michelle Gagnon’s How I Write Interview: When I Was a Russian Supper-Club Dancer | Noah Charney | September 5, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTI regard the chapter thus referred to as one of the great stumbling blocks of Christianity.
Ancient Faiths And Modern | Thomas Inman
The myth of the swallowing and disgorging of his own children by Cronus was another of the stumbling-blocks of Greek orthodoxy.
Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1 | Andrew LangI have just begun a chapter on "Discrimination and Comparison," subjects which have been long stumbling-blocks in my path.
The Letters of William James, Vol. 1 | William JamesHe will make stepping-stones out of his stumbling-blocks, and lift himself to success.
How to Succeed | Orison Swett MardenThese vicious, unlicensed hermits were great stumbling-blocks to the godly in those times.
The Great North Road: London to York | Charles G. Harper
British Dictionary definitions for stumbling block
any impediment or obstacle
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with stumbling block
A hindrance or obstacle, as in His lack of a degree is a real stumbling block to his advancement. This term originally meant “a tree stump over which one trips.” Its figurative use dates from the early 1500s.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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