roadblock

[ rohd-blok ]
See synonyms for roadblock on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an obstruction placed across a road, especially of barricades or police cars, for halting or hindering traffic, as to facilitate the capture of a pursued car or inspection for safety violations.

  2. an obstruction on a road, as a fallen tree or a pile of fallen rocks.

  1. a hastily built barricade, as of barbed wire, erected across a road to hold up the advance of an enemy.

  2. an action, condition, etc., that obstructs progress toward an objective: Nationalism is a roadblock to European unity.

verb (used with object)
  1. to halt or obstruct with or as if with a roadblock.

Origin of roadblock

1
First recorded in 1935–40; road + block

Words Nearby roadblock

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use roadblock in a sentence

  • I'm sure the Cassylians don't want to advertise their bad sportsmanship so there won't be anything as crude as a roadblock.

    Deathworld | Harry Harrison
  • After we got out to Stemmons—they'd set up a roadblock just as you entered Stemmons Expressway.

    Warren Commission (6 of 26): Hearings Vol. VI (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
  • A quarter of a mile ahead of the fugitives, the first of the four roadblock units came plowing over the rise.

    Code Three | Rick Raphael
  • Then, tonight, you took the chance of finding the roadblock.

    The Flaming Mountain | Harold Leland Goodwin
  • Ten yards past the roadblock he turned around and looked at Malone.

    Occasion for Disaster | Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for roadblock

roadblock

/ (ˈrəʊdˌblɒk) /


noun
  1. a barrier set up across a road by the police or military, in order to stop a fugitive, inspect traffic, etc

  2. a difficulty or obstacle to progress

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012