block
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /blɒk/
ipa: /blɑk/
rhymes: -ɒk
homophone: bloc
Forms: form: blocks
form: blocking
form: blocked
form: blocked
form: blocke
Etymology: From Middle English blok (“log, stump, solid piece”), from Old French bloc (“log, block”), from Middle Dutch blok (“treetrunk”), from Old Dutch *blok (“log”), from Proto-West Germanic *blokk, from Proto-Germanic *blukką (“beam, log”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“thick plank, beam, pile, prop”). Cognate with Old Frisian blok, Old Saxon blok, Old High German bloh, bloc (“block”), Old English bolca (“gangway of a ship, plank”), Old Norse bǫlkr (“divider, partition”). More at balk. See also bloc, bulk.
Senses: examples: text: The pipe was blocked by leaves.
text: You’re blocking the road – I can’t get through!
text: However, at Manchester the junctions and signals are so close that a train running more slowly over several junctions simply blocks those junctions for longer, preventing other trains moving.
ref: 2020 January 2, Philip Haigh, “Is there relief to congestion along Castlefield Corridor?”, in Rail, page 23:
synonyms: stop
glosses: To fill or obstruct (something) so that it is not possible to pass.
examples: text: A broken-down car is blocking the traffic.
glosses: To prevent (something or someone) from passing.
examples: text: His plan to take over the business was blocked by the boss.
text: Mr. Ip, who was the chairman of the Yau Tsim Mong district council, became a target of protesters in July after he blocked debate on the extradition bill that incited the protests this summer.
ref: 2019 November 25, Austin Ramzy, Tiffany May, Katherine Li, Elaine Yu, “Here’s What 5 of Hong Kong’s Newly Elected Politicians Have to Say”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Nov 2019:
glosses: To prevent (something from happening or someone from doing something).
examples: text: He blocked the basketball player’s shot.
text: The offensive linemen tried to block the blitz.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To impede (an opponent or opponent’s play).
examples: text: It was very difficult to block this scene convincingly.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
theater
glosses: To specify the positions and movements of the actors for (a section of a play or film).
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To hit with a block.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To play a block shot.
examples: text: I tried to send you a message, but you’ve blocked me!
text: The user who started the edit war was blocked for a day to cool off.
text: He messages her occasionally on Facebook, sending photos of grandkids and puppies he’s raised. Every year, he wishes her a happy birthday. She has not replied, but she has also not blocked him.
ref: 2024 March 18, Sarah Zhang, “DNA Tests Are Uncovering the True Prevalence of Incest”, in The Atlantic:
synonyms: nuclear block
glosses: To bar (impose a ban on a person or bot, etc.) from connecting via telephone, instant messaging, etc., or from accessing an online account or service, or similar.
examples: text: They’ve blocked all calls to international numbers.
text: Most Internet services have been blocked.
glosses: To bar (a message or communication), or bar connection with (an online account or service, a designated telephone number, IP address, etc.).
examples: text: When the condition expression is false, the thread blocks on the condition variable.
text: Post is a “fire and forget” where the UI thread work is performed asynchronously; Send is synchronous in that the call blocks until the UI thread work has been performed.
ref: 2014, Richard Blewett, Andrew Clymer, Pro Asynchronous Programming with .NET, page 25:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
glosses: To wait for some condition to become true.
examples: text: I blocked the mittens by wetting them and pinning them to a shaped piece of cardboard.
glosses: To stretch or mould (a knitted item, a hat, etc.) into the desired shape.
examples: text: When drawing a scene, first block the main features, and then fill in the detail.
glosses: To shape or sketch out roughly.
examples: text: As I started to read the stories I thought, "I have to write my story," but I blocked on it for six months. I couldn't write anything else while I couldn't write my coming out story. It seemed to me a subterfuge to turn out an anthology of coming out stories which didn't have my story in it.
ref: 1976 April 26, Jil Clark, Julia Penelope, Susan Wolfe, “The Politics of Language”, in Gay Community News, page 8:
glosses: To experience mental block or creative block.
synonyms: bonnet
glosses: To knock the hat of (a person) down over their eyes.
Derived terms: sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: blockage
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: block in
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: blocking
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: blocking bet
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: blocking course
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: blocking patent
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: block off
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: block out
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: block the box
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: block up
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: nonblocking
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: nuclear block
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: reblock
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: sunblocking
sense: terms derived from block (verb)
word: unblock