Blocks


a solid mass of wood, stone, etc., usually with one or more flat or approximately flat faces.
a hollow masonry building unit of cement, terra cotta, etc.:
a wall made of concrete blocks.
one of a set of cube-shaped pieces of wood, plastic, or the like, used as a child’s toy in building.
a mold or piece on which something is shaped or kept in shape:
a hat block.
a piece of wood used in the art of making woodcuts or wood engravings.
Printing. the base on which a plate is mounted to make it type-high.
a projection left on a squared stone to provide a means of lifting it.
a short length of plank serving as a bridging, as between joists.
a stump or wooden structure on which a condemned person is beheaded:
Mary Stuart went bravely to the block.
auction block.
Machinery. a part enclosing one or more freely rotating, grooved pulleys, about which ropes or chains pass to form a hoisting or hauling tackle.
an obstacle, obstruction, or hindrance:
His stubbornness is a block to all my efforts.
the state or condition of being obstructed; blockage:
The traffic block lasted several hours.
Pathology.

an obstruction, as of a nerve.
heart block.

Sports. a hindering of an opponent’s actions.
a quantity, portion, or section taken as a unit or dealt with at one time:
a large block of theater tickets.
a small section of a city, town, etc., enclosed by neighboring and intersecting streets:
She lives on my block.
the length of one side of such a section:
We walked two blocks over.
Chiefly British. a large building divided into separate apartments, offices, shops, etc.
a large number of bonds or shares of stock sold together as a single unit.
Computers.

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.
a section of storage locations in a computer allocated to a particular set of instructions or data.
a group of consecutive machine words organized as a unit and guiding a particular computer operation, especially with reference to input and output.
(on a flow chart) a symbol representing an operation, device, or instruction in a computer program.

Railroads. any of the short lengths into which a track is divided for signaling purposes.
Philately. a group of four or more unseparated stamps, not in a strip.
Slang. a person’s head.
Glassmaking. a wooden or metal cup for blocking a gather.
an obstruction or stoppage in mental processes or speech, especially when related to stress, emotional conflict, etc.
writer’s block.
Geology.

any large, angular mass of solid rock.
fault block.

(in Canada) a wild or remote area of land that has not yet been surveyed:
the Peace River block.
Automotive. cylinder block.
Falconry. a low perch to which a falcon is tethered outdoors.
to obstruct (someone or something) by placing obstacles in the way (sometimes followed by up):
to block one’s exit; to block up a passage.
to fit with blocks; mount on a block.
to shape or prepare on or with a block:
to block a hat; to block a sweater.
to join (the ends of boards or the like) by fastening to a block of wood.
Theater.

Also, block out. to plan or work out the movement of performers in a play, pageant, etc.:
Tomorrow we’ll block act one.
to draw a floor plan on (a stage) in order to indicate placement of scenery, stage property, etc.

Pathology, Physiology. to stop the passage of impulses in (a nerve).
Computers. to group (contiguous data) together so as to allow to be read or written in a single operation.
Sports. to hinder or bar the actions or movements of (an opposing player), especially legitimately.
Glassmaking.

to shape (a molten gather) in a wet cup of wood or metal.
to plunge a block of wood into (molten glass) to aid in refining the glass.

Metalworking. to give (a forging) a rough form before finishing.
Electronics. to apply a high negative bias to the grid of (a vacuum tube), for reducing the plate current to zero.
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.
Theater. to block a play, act, scene, stage, etc.:
The director will block tomorrow.
to suffer a block.
block in/out, to sketch or outline roughly or generally, without details:
She blocked out a color scheme for the interiors.
block out,

block (def 36a).
Basketball. to box out.

put / go on the block, to offer or be offered for sale at auction:
to put family heirlooms on the block.
Contemporary Examples

The Wind Beneath de Blasio’s Wings Michael Daly November 4, 2013
Will Israel Order a Ground Invasion in Gaza? Sarah A. Topol, Dan Ephron November 18, 2012
The Daily Beast D.C. Diary The Daily Beast January 18, 2009
My Moments With Ariel Sharon Seth Lipsky January 10, 2014
The Supermassive Black Hole Smokescreen Matthew R. Francis June 21, 2014

Historical Examples

Her Majesty’s Mails William Lewins
Punchinello, Vol. 1. No. 20, August 13, 1870 Various
The Sunset Trail Alfred Henry Lewis
Classic Myths Mary Catherine Judd
Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II Joshua Rose

noun
a large solid piece of wood, stone, or other material with flat rectangular sides, as for use in building
any large solid piece of wood, stone, etc, usually having at least one face fairly flat
such a piece on which particular tasks may be done, as chopping, cutting, or beheading
Also called building block. one of a set of wooden or plastic cubes as a child’s toy
a form on which things are shaped or displayed: a wig block
(slang) a person’s head (esp in the phrase knock someone’s block off)
(Austral & NZ, slang) do one’s block, to become angry
a dull, unemotional, or hardhearted person
a large building of offices, flats, etc

a group of buildings in a city bounded by intersecting streets on each side
the area or distance between such intersecting streets

(Austral & NZ) an area of land for a house, farm, etc
(Austral & NZ) a log, usually a willow, fastened to a timber base and used in a wood-chopping competition
an area of land, esp one to be divided for building or settling
See cylinder block

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
(Brit) a letterpress printing plate, esp one mounted type-high on wood or metal

a casing housing one or more freely rotating pulleys See also block and tackle
(mainly US & Canadian) on the block, up for auction
the act of obstructing or condition of being obstructed, as in sports
an obstruction or hindrance
(pathol)

interference in the normal physiological functioning of an organ or part
See heart block
See nerve block

(psychol) a short interruption of perceptual or thought processes
obstruction of an opponent in a sport

a section or quantity, as of tickets or shares, handled or considered as a single unit
(as modifier): a block booking, block voting

a stretch of railway in which only one train may travel at a time
(as modifier): a block signal

an unseparated group of four or more postage stamps Compare strip1 (sense 3)
a pad of paper
(computing) a group of words treated as a unit of data on a tape, disk, etc
(athletics) short for starting block
(cricket) a mark made near the popping crease by a batsman to indicate his position in relation to the wicket
(informal) a chip off the old block, a person who resembles one of his or her parents in behaviour
verb (mainly transitive)
to shape or form (something) into a block
to fit with or mount on a block
to shape by use of a block: to block a hat
(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
to impede, retard, or prevent (an action, procedure, etc)
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
(esp of a government or central bank) to limit the use or conversion of assets or currency
(also intransitive) (sport) to obstruct or impede movement by (an opponent)
(intransitive) to suffer a psychological block
to interrupt a physiological function, as by use of an anaesthetic
(also intransitive) (cricket) to play (a ball) defensively
n.
n.

BLOCK. A term applied in America to a square mass of houses included between four streets. It is a very useful one. [Bartlett]

v.

v. blocked, block·ing, blocks
To arrest passage through; obstruct.block’age (blŏk’ĭj) n.
block and tackle
(blŏk)
An arrangement of pulleys and ropes used to reduce the amount of force needed to move heavy loads. One pulley is attached to the load, and rope or chains connect this pulley to a fixed pulley. Each pulley may have multiple grooves or wheels for the rope to pass over numerous times. Pulling the rope or chain slowly draws the load-bearing pulley toward the fixed one with high mechanical advantage.
see:

chip off the old block
knock someone’s block off
on the block
stumbling block

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