a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence
the quality of being rash and foolish; "trying to drive through a blizzard is the height of folly"; "adjusting to an insane society is total foolishness"
capable of being reached only with great difficulty or not at all
not capable of being obtained; "a rare work, today almost inaccessible"; "timber is virtually unobtainable in the islands"; "untouchable resources buried deep within the earth"
an obstruction that stands in the way (and must be removed or surmounted or circumvented)
something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted; "lack of imagination is an obstacle to one's advancement"; "the poverty of a district is an obstacle to good education"; "the filibuster was a major obstruction to the success of their plan"