Dictionary Definition
block
Noun
1 a solid piece of something (usually having flat
rectangular sides); "the pyramids were built with large stone
blocks"
2 a rectangular area in a city surrounded by
streets and usually containing several buildings; "he lives in the
next block" [syn: city
block]
3 a three-dimensional shape with six square or
rectangular sides [syn: cube]
4 a number or quantity of related things dealt
with as a unit; "he reserved a large block of seats"; "he held a
large block of the company's stock"
5 housing in a large building that is divided
into separate units; "there is a block of classrooms in the west
wing"
6 (computer science) a sector or group of sectors
that function as the smallest data unit permitted; "since blocks
are often defined as a single sector, the terms `block' and
`sector' are sometimes used interchangeably"
7 an inability to remember or think of something
you normally can do; often caused by emotional tension; "I knew his
name perfectly well but I had a temporary block" [syn: mental
block]
8 a simple machine consisting of a wheel with a
groove in which a rope can run to change the direction or point of
application of a force applied to the rope [syn: pulley, pulley-block]
9 a metal casting containing the cylinders and
cooling ducts of an engine; "the engine had to be replaced because
the block was cracked" [syn: engine
block, cylinder
block]
10 an obstruction in a pipe or tube; "we had to
call a plumber to clear out the blockage in the drainpipe" [syn:
blockage, closure, occlusion, stop, stoppage]
11 a platform from which an auctioneer sells;
"they put their paintings on the block" [syn: auction
block]
12 (American football) the act of obstructing
someone's path with your body; "he threw a rolling block into the
line backer" [syn: blocking, interference]
Verb
1 render unsuitable for passage; "block the way";
"barricade the streets"; "stop the busy road" [syn: barricade, blockade, stop, block off,
block
up, bar]
2 hinder or prevent the progress or
accomplishment of; "His brother blocked him at every turn" [syn:
obstruct, blockade, hinder, stymie, stymy, embarrass]
3 stop from happening or developing; "Block his
election"; "Halt the process" [syn: stop, halt, kibosh]
4 interfere with or prevent the reception of
signals; "Jam the Voice of America"; "block the signals emitted by
this station" [syn: jam]
5 run on a block system; "block trains"
6 interrupt the normal function of by means of
anesthesia; "block a nerve"; "block a muscle"
7 shut out from view or get in the way so as to
hide from sight; "The thick curtain blocked the action on the
stage"; "The trees obstruct my view of the mountains" [syn:
obstruct]
8 stamp or emboss a title or design on a book
with a block; "block the book cover"
9 obstruct; "My nose is all stuffed"; "Her
arteries are blocked" [syn: stuff, lug, choke up] [ant:
unstuff]
10 block passage through; "obstruct the path"
[syn: obstruct,
obturate, impede, occlude, jam, close up] [ant:
free]
11 support, secure, or raise with a block; "block
a plate for printing"; "block the wheels of a car"
13 be unable to remember; "I'm drawing a blank";
"You are blocking the name of your first wife!" [syn: forget, blank out,
draw a
blank] [ant: remember]
14 shape by using a block; "Block a hat"; "block
a garment"
15 shape into a block or blocks; "block the
graphs so one can see the results clearly"
16 prohibit the conversion or use of (assets);
"Blocked funds"; "Freeze the assets of this hostile government"
[syn: freeze, immobilize, immobilise] [ant: unblock, unblock]
User Contributed Dictionary
see Block
English
Noun
- A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
- A block of ice.
- A block of stone.
- A block of ice.
- A cuboid of wood, plastic or other material used as a base on which to cut something.
- Anne Boleyn placed her head on the block and awaited her execution.
- A group of urban lots of property, several acres in extent, not
crossed by public streets
- I'm going for a walk around the block.
- A group of buildings
in a city or town, demarcated by streets.
- A block of flats.
- The distance from one street to another in a city that is built (approximately)
to a grid pattern.
- The place you are looking for is two long blocks east and one short block north.
- The human head.
- I'll knock your block off.
- A set of sheets (of paper) joined together at one end.
- A block of 100 tickets.
- A logical data storage unit containing one ore more physical sectors (see cluster).
- In the context of "rigging": A case with one or more sheaves/pulleys, used with ropes to increase or redirect force, for example, as part of the rigging of a sailing ship.
- A portion of a macromolecule, comprising many units, that has at least one feature not present in adjacent portions.
- Something that prevents something from passing (see blockage).
- There's a block in the pipe that means the water can't get through.
- An action to interfere with the movement of an opposing player or of the object of play (ball, puck).
- A shot played by holding he bat vertically in the path of the ball, so that it loses momentum and drops to the ground.
- A defensive play by one or more players meant to deflect a spiked ball back to the hitter’s court.
Related terms
Derived terms
cuboid group of buildings distance cutting base prevent passage rigging human head volleyballSynonyms
* stuff, roof, wallTranslations
a cuboid piece
a group of buildings demarcated by streets
the distance from one street to another
a base for cutting
a set of paper sheets
data storage unit
- Czech: blok
- French: bloc
- German: Block
- Swedish: block
something that prevents passing
- Chinese traditional/simplified: 障礙物, 障碍物 (zhàng āi wù)
- Dutch: verstopping
- Finnish: este, tukos, sulku
- French: blocage, obstruction
- German: Verstopfung
- Hebrew: מחסום (makhsom)
- Italian: ingorgo, blocco
- Swedish: blockering , stopp , hinder
certain cricket shot
part of a ship's rigging
portion of macromolecule
volleyball
head
Verb
- To fill (something) so that it is not possible to pass.
- The pipe is blocked.
- To prevent (something or someone) from passing.
- You're blocking the road - I can't get through.
- To prevent (something from happening or someone from doing
something).
- His plan to take over the business was blocked by the boss.
- The act of impeding an opponent in sports.
- He blocked the basketball player's shot.
- The offensive linemen tried to block the blitz.
- He blocked the basketball player's shot.
- transitive theater
To specify the positions and movements of the actors.
- It was very difficult to block this scene convincingly.
- transitive Cricket To hit with a block.
- intransitive Cricket To play a block shot.
- To not answer a person in the phone.
- ''I'm calling you but you're blocking me!
Translations
to fill
to prevent passing
to prevent an action
impeding action
to specify positions and movements of
actors
to use the cricket shot block
to not answer a person by the phone
- Hebrew: לסנן [lesanen], לחסום [laHsom]
Noun
blockExtensive Definition
Block may refer to:
Objects that resemble rectangular prisms, known
as cuboids:
- A large concrete or stone brick
- Block (sailing), a single or multiple pulley used on sailboats
- Cylinder block, the main part of an internal combustion engine
- Toy block, one of a set of wooden or plastic pieces of various shapes
An area of land:
- Block (country subdivision), a unit of government in some South Asian countries
- Census block, the smallest geographical unit in the U.S. Census Bureau
- City block, an area surrounded but not divided by streets
In science:
- Block (extraction of petroleum), a sub-division of an underground reservoir
- Block (meteorology), large-scale near-stationary patterns in the atmospheric pressure field
In sports:
- Blocking (American football), when a player obstructs another player's path
- Block (basketball), when a defensive player legally deflects a shot
- Blocking (martial arts), a defensive technique in the martial arts
- Cassette (bicycle part), a set of rear sprockets that attaches to a hub on the rear wheel.
In technology:
- Block (data storage), the practice of storing electronic data in equally-sized units
- Block-level element in the HTML markup language
- Block (telecommunications), a unit of data transmission
- Statement block, a segment of a program
- Block (internet), technical measures to restrict users' access to certain internet resources
- Boom Blox, a video game for the Wii console from EA, previously known as Blocks
In mathematics:
- Block design, a kind of set system in combinatorial mathematics
- Block (group theory)
- A maximally 2-connected subgraph or a bridge with its endvertices in graph theory
In music:
- Block Entertainment, a record label
- Blocks Recording Club, a record label
- Block form
Block may also refer to:
- A way of controlling train movement in railway signalling
- Postage stamp block, an attached group of postage stamps
block in German: Block
block in Spanish: Bloque
block in French: Block
block in Dutch: Blok
block in Russian: Блок
block in Finnish: Blokki
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Boeotian, Dutch auction,
afterthought,
agate, agnosia, apply to, aquatint, arm, arrest, auction, auction block, auction
sale, autolithograph, ax, balk, ball, bar, barricade, barrier, baseball bat, bat, batch, battery, battledore, bauble, beat off, bind, blank wall, blanket, blind alley, blind gut,
block out, block print, block up, blockade, blockage, blocking, blocks, blot out, board lot,
body, bolt, bottleneck, brake, brick, bring to, bring up short,
bulk, bung, bung up, bureaucratic delay,
cake, canopy, catch, caulk, cecum, censorship, check, checkerboard, checkmate, chessboard, chink, chock, choke, choke off, choke up,
choking, choking off,
chromolithograph,
chunk, city block,
cloak, clod, clog, clog up, clos, close, close off, close tight,
close up, clothe,
cloud, club, clump, cluster, cockhorse, color print,
concrete, concretion, confine, congest, congestion, conglomerate, conglomeration, constipate, constipation, constrict, conversion, cope, copperplate, copperplate
print, cordon, cork, costiveness, counter, cover, cover up, cowl, crayon engraving, cricket
bat, croft, cross, crowd, cube, cue, cul-de-sac, curtain, cut, cut off, cut short, dam, dam up, dead end, deadlock, death chair, death
chamber, debar, defense
mechanism, delay, delayage, delayed reaction,
delirium, delusion, delusion of
persecution, deny, design, detain, detention, determent, deterrent, difficulty, dimwit, disorientation, dog, doll, doll carriage, dolt, donkey, dope, double take, drag, dragging, drawback, drive back, drop, dullard, dumb cluck, dumbbell, dummy, dummy share, dunce, eclipse, electric chair,
eliminate, ell, embolism, embolus, enclave, engravement, engraving, erase, etching, even lot, exclude, extension, fend, fend off, field, fill, fill up, film, flight of ideas, forty, foul, fractional lot, freeze, full lot, gallows, gallows-tree, gas
chamber, gewgaw, gibbet, gimcrack, gob, golf club, gorge, gowk, graphotype, guillotine, hallucination, hallucinosis, halt, halter, hamper, hang-up, hazard, hemp, hempen collar, hinder, hindrance, hitch, hobbyhorse, hold at bay, hold
back, hold off, hold up, holding, holdings, holdup, hood, hot seat, hunk, hurdle, impasse, impede, impediment, impress, impression, imprint, infarct, infarction, inhibition, interim, jack-in-the-box,
jacks, jackstones, jackstraws, jam, jobbernowl, joker, keep at bay, keep back,
keep off, kickshaw,
kit, knickknack, knot, kraal, lackwit, lag, lagging, lamebrain, lay on, lay out,
lay over, lethal chamber, lightweight, linoleum-block
print, lithograph,
loaf, lock, logjam, looby, loon, lot, lump, maiden, make late, mantle, marble, marionette, mask, mass, mental block, mental
confusion, mezzotint,
mig, moratorium, muffle, negative, niais, nihilism, nihilistic delusion,
nincompoop, ninny, ninnyhammer, nitwit, noddy, node, noose, nugget, obduce, objection, obscure, obstacle, obstipate, obstipation, obstruct, obstruction, obstructive, occlude, occult, odd lot, one small
difficulty, outcry,
outfit, outline, overlay, overspread, pack, pale, paper doll, paperasserie, paralogia, parcel of land,
parry, pat, patch, pause, pick-up sticks, piece, pinwheel, plan, plat, plaything, plot, plot of ground, plug, plug up, preference share,
prevent, print, psychological block, pull
up, puppet, push back,
put, put back, put on, put
paid to, quad, quadrangle, quantity, racket, rag doll, real estate,
rebuff, red tape,
red-tapeism, red-tapery, repel, repression, reprieve, repulse, resistance, respite, restraint, retard, retardance, retardation, roadblock, rocking horse,
rope, rough out, round lot,
rub, rubber-block print,
scaffold, screen, scum, sealing off, section, series, set, share, shield, shut off, shut out, shut
tight, sketch, slab, slacken, slow down, slow-up,
slowdown, slowness, snag, solid, solid body, spile, sport, spread over, square, squeeze, squeeze shut, stake, stalemate, stall, stanch, stave off, stay, stay of execution, steelie, stem, stem the tide, stench, stifle, stockholding, stockholdings, stop, stop cold, stop dead, stop
short, stop up, stoppage, stopper, stopple, strangle, strangulate, strangulation, stuff, stuff up, stumbling block,
stumbling stone, stump,
stupid, stymie, sublimation, suffocate, suit, suite, superimpose, superpose, suppression, suspension, symbolization, taw, teetotum, the chair, thickwit, tie-up, time lag,
top, toy, toy soldier, tract, tree, trinket, turn aside, veil, vendue, vignette, wad, wait, wall, ward off, whim-wham, wing, witling, wood engraving,
woodblock, woodcut, woodprint, xylograph