close up, obturate, occlude, impede, obstruct, jam, block - block passage through; "obstruct the path"

prevent, keep - prevent from doing something or being in a certain state; "We must prevent the cancer from spreading"; "His snoring kept me from falling asleep"; "Keep the child from eating the marbles"

interfere - come between so as to be hindrance or obstacle; "Your talking interferes with my work!"

set back - slow down the progress of; hinder; "His late start set him back"

hobble - hamper the action or progress of; "The chairman was hobbled by the all-powerful dean"

stunt - check the growth or development of; "You will stunt your growth by building all these muscles"

stonewall - obstruct or hinder any discussion; "Nixon stonewalled the Watergate investigation"; "When she doesn't like to face a problem, she simply stonewalls"

foreclose, forestall, preclude, prevent, forbid - keep from happening or arising; have the effect of preventing; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"

filibuster - obstruct deliberately by delaying; of legislation

check - block or impede (a player from the opposing team) in ice hockey

hang - prevent from reaching a verdict, of a jury

bottleneck - slow down or impede by creating an obstruction; "His laziness has bottlenecked our efforts to reform the system"

disadvantage, disfavor, disfavour - put at a disadvantage; hinder, harm; "This rule clearly disadvantages me"

posterior - at or near the hind end in quadrupeds or toward the spine in primates