Question

select the word that means block or prevent. cerumen, or earwax, protects the sensitive inner ear from dirt and infection. if too much earwax collects, however, it can obstruct the ear canal, making it hard to hear. if that happens to you, dont stick anything into your ear canal. ask a doctor or nurse how to remove the wax safely. submit

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the context. The sentence "If too much earwax collects, however, it can obstruct the ear canal, making it hard to hear" shows that "obstruct" here means to block (the ear canal) as per the definition "block or prevent". Other words like "protects", "collects", "remove" don't fit the "block or prevent" meaning. So the word is "obstruct".

Answer:

obstruct