block

¹

[blok]

noun

1. a solid mass of wood, stone, etc., usually with one or more flat or approximately flat faces.

2. a hollow masonry building unit of cement, terracotta, etc..

   a wall made of concrete blocks.

3. one of a set of cube-shaped pieces of wood, plastic, or the like, used as a child's toy in building.

4. a mold or piece on which something is shaped or kept in shape.

   a hat block.

5. a piece of wood used in the art of making woodcuts or wood engravings.

6. Printing.,  the base on which a plate is mounted to make it type-high.

7. a projection left on a squared stone to provide a means of lifting it.

8. a short length of plank serving as a bridging, as between joists.

9. a stump or wooden structure on which a condemned person is beheaded.

   Mary Stuart went bravely to the block.

10. auction block.

11. Machinery.,  a part enclosing one or more freely rotating, grooved pulleys, about which ropes or chains pass to form a hoisting or hauling tackle.

12. an obstacle, obstruction, or hindrance.

    His stubbornness is a block to all my efforts.

    Synonyms: jam, stoppage, barrier, blockade, impediment

13. the state or condition of being obstructed; blockage.

    The traffic block lasted several hours.

14. Pathology.

    1. an obstruction, as of a nerve.

    2. heart block.

15. Sports.,  a hindering of an opponent's actions.

16. a quantity, portion, or section taken as a unit or dealt with at one time.

    a large block of theater tickets.

17. a small section of a city, town, etc., enclosed by neighboring and intersecting streets.

    She lives on my block.

18. the length of one side of such a section.

    We walked two blocks over.

19. Chiefly British.,  a large building divided into separate apartments, offices, shops, etc.

20. a large number of bonds or shares of stock sold together as a single unit.

21. Computers.

    1. a group of data stored as a unit on an external storage medium and handled as a unit by the computer for input or output.

       This file has 20 records per block.

    2. a section of storage locations in a computer allocated to a particular set of instructions or data.

    3. a group of consecutive machine words organized as a unit and guiding a particular computer operation, especially with reference to input and output.

    4. (on a flow chart) a symbol representing an operation, device, or instruction in a computer program.

22. Railroads.,  any of the short lengths into which a track is divided for signaling purposes.

23. Philately.,  a group of four or more unseparated stamps, not in a strip.

24. Slang.,  a person's head.

25. Glassmaking.,  a wooden or metal cup for blocking a gather.

26. an obstruction or stoppage in mental processes or speech, especially when related to stress, emotional conflict, etc.

27. writer's block.

28. Geology.

    1. any large, angular mass of solid rock.

    2. fault block.

29. (in Canada) a wild or remote area of land that has not yet been surveyed.

    the Peace River block.

30. Automotive.,  cylinder block.

31. Falconry.,  a low perch to which a falcon is tethered outdoors.

verb (used with object)

1. to obstruct (someone or something) by placing obstacles in the way (sometimes followed byup ).

   to block one's exit;

   to block up a passage.

   Synonyms: stop, deter, hinder, impede, blockade, close

2. to fit with blocks; mount on a block.

3. to shape or prepare on or with a block.

   to block a hat;

   to block a sweater.

4. to join (the ends of boards or the like) by fastening to a block of wood.

5. Theater.

   1. Also block out. to plan or work out the movement of performers in a play, pageant, etc..

      Tomorrow we'll block act one.

   2. to draw a floor plan on (a stage) in order to indicate placement of scenery, stage property, etc.

6. Pathology, Physiology.,  to stop the passage of impulses in (a nerve).

7. Computers.,  to group (contiguous data) together so as to allow to be read or written in a single operation.

8. Sports.,  to hinder or bar the actions or movements of (an opposing player), especially legitimately.

9. Glassmaking.

   1. to shape (a molten gather) in a wet cup of wood or metal.

   2. to plunge a block of wood into (molten glass) to aid in refining the glass.

10. Metalworking.,  to give (a forging) a rough form before finishing.

11. Electronics.,  to apply a high negative bias to the grid of (a vacuum tube), for reducing the plate current to zero.

verb (used without object)

1. to act so as to obstruct an opponent, as in football, hockey, and basketball.

   He doesn't get many baskets, but he sure can block.

2. Theater.,  to block a play, act, scene, stage, etc..

   The director will block tomorrow.

3. to suffer a block.

verb phrase

1. block out

   1. block.

   2. Basketball.,  to box out.

2. block in / out,  to sketch or outline roughly or generally, without details.

   She blocked out a color scheme for the interiors.

Block

²

[blok]

noun

1. Herbert Lawrence Herblock, 1909–2001, U.S. cartoonist.

block

/ blɒk /

noun

1. a large solid piece of wood, stone, or other material with flat rectangular sides, as for use in building

2. any large solid piece of wood, stone, etc, usually having at least one face fairly flat

3. such a piece on which particular tasks may be done, as chopping, cutting, or beheading

4. Also called: building block. one of a set of wooden or plastic cubes as a child's toy

5. a form on which things are shaped or displayed

   a wig block

6. slang,  a person's head (esp in the phrase knock someone's block off )

7. slang,  to become angry

8. a dull, unemotional, or hardhearted person

9. a large building of offices, flats, etc

10. 1. a group of buildings in a city bounded by intersecting streets on each side

    2. the area or distance between such intersecting streets

11. an area of land for a house, farm, etc

12. a log, usually a willow, fastened to a timber base and used in a wood-chopping competition

13. an area of land, esp one to be divided for building or settling

14. See cylinder block

15. 1. a piece of wood, metal, or other material having an engraved, cast, or carved design in relief, used either for printing or for stamping book covers, etc

    2. a letterpress printing plate, esp one mounted type-high on wood or metal

16. a casing housing one or more freely rotating pulleys See also block and tackle

17. up for auction

18. the act of obstructing or condition of being obstructed, as in sports

19. an obstruction or hindrance

20. pathol

    1. interference in the normal physiological functioning of an organ or part

    2. See heart block

    3. See nerve block

21. psychol a short interruption of perceptual or thought processes

22. obstruction of an opponent in a sport

23. 1. a section or quantity, as of tickets or shares, handled or considered as a single unit

    2. ( as modifier )

       a block booking

       block voting

24. 1. a stretch of railway in which only one train may travel at a time

    2. ( as modifier )

       a block signal

25. an unseparated group of four or more postage stamps Compare strip 1

26. a pad of paper

27. computing a group of words treated as a unit of data on a tape, disk, etc

28. athletics short for starting block

29. cricket a mark made near the popping crease by a batsman to indicate his position in relation to the wicket

30. informal,  a person who resembles one of his or her parents in behaviour

verb

1. to shape or form (something) into a block

2. to fit with or mount on a block

3. to shape by use of a block

   to block a hat

4. (often foll by up) to obstruct (a passage, channel, etc) or prevent or impede the motion or flow of (something or someone) by introducing an obstacle

   to block the traffic

   to block up a pipe

5. to impede, retard, or prevent (an action, procedure, etc)

6. to stamp (a title, design, etc) on (a book cover, etc) by means of a block (see sense 12), esp using gold leaf or other foil

7. (esp of a government or central bank) to limit the use or conversion of assets or currency

8. (also intr) sport to obstruct or impede movement by (an opponent)

9. (intr) to suffer a psychological block

10. to interrupt a physiological function, as by use of an anaesthetic

11. (also intr) cricket to play (a ball) defensively

Other Word Forms

• blocker noun
• blockable adjective
• reblock verb (used with object)
• subblock noun
• unblocked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of block¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English blok “log, stump,” from Middle French bloc, from Middle Dutch blok; perhaps akin to balk

Word History and Origins

Origin of block¹

C14: from Old French bloc , from Dutch blok ; related to Old High German bloh

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. put / go on the block, to offer or be offered for sale at auction.

   to put family heirlooms on the block.

see chip off the old block; knock someone's block off; on the block; stumbling block.

Example Sentences

It was a block from Chicago Police HQ.

From BBC

Each team attempted just one punt with Bishop Amat’s Mac Naughtin blocking Valencia’s try with less than four minutes to play, setting up the Lancers’ penultimate touchdown.

From Los Angeles Times

"We use technologies to proactively find and shut down dealers' accounts, block search results for a wide range of drug-related terms and support law enforcement efforts," a spokesperson added.

From BBC

Ten years later, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the government blocked popular social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, and most independent media, leaving them accessible only through VPNs.

From BBC

After the party's success at May's local and mayoral elections, he argued the 2026 races for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd would be "an essential building block" ahead of a UK general election.

From BBC

Related Words

• arrest 
• bar 
• blockade 
• clog 
• close 
• close off www.thesaurus.com
• cut off 
• deter 
• halt 
• hinder 
• hold up 
• impede 
• intercept 
• prevent 
• stall 
• stop 
• thwart