pressing importance requiring speedy action; "the urgency of his need"
an urgent situation calling for prompt action; "I'll be there, barring any urgencies"; "they departed hurriedly because of some great urgency in their affairs"
the state of being urgent; an earnest and insistent necessity
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"
keep from happening or arising; make impossible; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"; "Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project"
point out or draw attention to in protest or remonstrance; "our parents represented to us the need for more caution"
describe or present, usually with respect to a particular quality; "He represented this book as an example of the Russian 19th century novel"
serve as a means of expressing something; "The flower represents a young girl"
create an image or likeness of; "The painter represented his wife as a young girl"
be a delegate or spokesperson for; represent somebody's interest or be a proxy or substitute for, as of politicians and office holders representing their constituents, or of a tenant representing other tenants in a housing dispute; "I represent the silent majority"
be representative or typical for; "This period is represented by Beethoven"
take the place of or be parallel or equivalent to; "Because of the sound changes in the course of history, an 'h' in Greek stands for an 's' in Latin"
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"
a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality; "a moderate grade of intelligence"; "a high level of care is required"; "it is all a matter of degree"
the seriousness of something (e.g., a burn or crime); "murder in the second degree"; "a second degree burn"
the highest power of a term or variable
a measure for arcs and angles; "there are 360 degrees in a circle"
a unit of temperature on a specified scale; "the game was played in spite of the 40-degree temperature"
a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process; "a remarkable degree of frankness"; "at what stage are the social sciences?"