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.
a.
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.
b.
a section of storage locations in a computer allocated to a particular set of instructions or data.
c.
a group of consecutive machine words organized as a unit and guiding a particular computer operation, esp. with reference to input and output.
d.
(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, esp. when related to stress, emotional conflict, etc.
A solid piece of a hard substance, such as wood, having one or more flat sides.
Such a piece used as a construction member or as a support.
Such a piece upon which chopping or cutting is done: a butcher's block.
Such a piece upon which persons are beheaded.
One of a set of small wooden or plastic pieces, such as a cube, bar, or cylinder, used as a building toy.
Printing A large amount of text.
Sports A starting block.
A pulley or a system of pulleys set in a casing.
An engine block.
A usually rectangular section of a city or town bounded on each side by consecutive streets.
A segment of a street bounded by consecutive cross streets and including its buildings and inhabitants.
Sports An act of bodily obstruction, as of a player or ball.
Football Legal interference with an opposing player to clear the path of the ball carrier.
A stand from which articles are displayed and sold at an auction: Many priceless antiques went on the block.
A mold or form on which an item is shaped or displayed: a hat block.
A substance, such as wood or stone, that has been prepared for engraving.
A pulley or a system of pulleys set in a casing.
An engine block.
A usually rectangular section of a city or town bounded on each side by consecutive streets.
A segment of a street bounded by consecutive cross streets and including its buildings and inhabitants.
Sports An act of bodily obstruction, as of a player or ball.
Football Legal interference with an opposing player to clear the path of the ball carrier.
A bloc.
A set of like items, such as shares of stock, sold or handled as a unit.
A group of four or more unseparated postage stamps forming a rectangle.
Canadian A group of townships in an unsurveyed area.
A usually rectangular section of a city or town bounded on each side by consecutive streets.
A segment of a street bounded by consecutive cross streets and including its buildings and inhabitants.
Sports An act of bodily obstruction, as of a player or ball.
Football Legal interference with an opposing player to clear the path of the ball carrier.
A large building divided into separate units, such as apartments.
A length of railroad track controlled by signals.
The act of obstructing.
Something that obstructs; an obstacle.
Sports An act of bodily obstruction, as of a player or ball.
Football Legal interference with an opposing player to clear the path of the ball carrier.
Medicine Interruption or obstruction of a physiological function: nerve block.
Psychology A sudden cessation of speech or a thought process without an immediate observable cause, sometimes considered a consequence of repression. Also called mental block.
Slang The human head: threatened to knock my block off.
A blockhead.
v.
blocked, block·ing, blocks
v.
tr.
To shape into a block or blocks.
To support, strengthen, or retain in place by means of a block.
To shape, mold, or form with or on a block: block a hat.
To stop or impede the passage of or movement through; obstruct: block traffic.
To shut out from view: a curtain blocking the stage.
To stop the passage of (a motion or bill) in a legislative assembly.
To indicate broadly without great detail; sketch. Often used with out:block out a plan of action; block out stage movements.
Sports To impede the movement of (an opponent or the ball) by physical interference.
Medicine To interrupt or obstruct the proper functioning of (a physiological process), especially by the use of drugs.
Psychology To fail to remember.
To run (trains) on a block system.
v.
intr.
Sports To obstruct the movement of an opponent.
To suffer a mental block. Often used with on:I blocked on his name.
Phrasal Verb(s): block out
To cover over so as to be illegible: block out sensitive information from a document before releasing it.
To repress (a traumatic event, for example) from conscious memory.
Idiom(s):
go on the block
To be offered for sale.
Idiom(s):
out of the blocks
From a starting position, as in a race or contest: The company has in the past been slow out of the blocks to adapt to consumer tastes.
Idiom(s):
put on the block
To offer for sale.
[Middle English blok, from Old French bloc, from Middle Dutch.]
block'er n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to cut off from sight: a tree that blocked the view; a road hidden by brush; mist that obscured the mountain peak; skyscrapers obstructing the sky; a fence that screens the alley; a face shrouded by a heavy veil. See Also Synonyms at hinder1, obstacle.
BlockAudio Help (blŏk) Pronunciation Key
American editorial cartoonist whose witty works have appeared in the Washington Post and more than 200 other papers nationwide. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1942 and in 1954.
"solid piece," c.1305, from O.Fr. bloc "log, block," via M.Du. bloc "trunk of a tree" or O.H.G. bloh, both from PIE *bhlugo-, from *bhel "a thick plank, beam." Slang sense of "head" is from 1635. The meaning in city block is 1796, from the notion of a "compact mass" of buildings; slang meaning "fashionable promenade" is 1869. Extended sense of "obstruction" is first recorded 1649. The verb "to obstruct" is from 1570. Blockhead "stupid person" (1549) was originally a head-shaped oaken block used by hat-makers. Blockade first used 1680, with false Fr. ending (the Fr. word is blocus). Blockhouse is c.1500, of unknown origin.
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"
3.
a three-dimensional shape with six square or rectangular sides
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"
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]
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]
10.
an obstruction in a pipe or tube; "we had to call a plumber to clear out the blockage in the drainpipe" [syn: blockage]
11.
a platform from which an auctioneer sells; "they put their paintings on the block" [syn: auction block]
12.
the act of obstructing or deflecting someone's movements [syn: blocking]
verb
1.
render unsuitable for passage; "block the way"; "barricade the streets"; "stop the busy road" [syn: barricade]
2.
hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of; "His brother blocked him at every turn" [syn: obstruct]
3.
stop from happening or developing; "Block his election"; "Halt the process" [syn: stop]
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] [ant: loosen up]
10.
block passage through; "obstruct the path" [syn: obstruct] [ant: disengage]
11.
support, secure, or raise with a block; "block a plate for printing"; "block the wheels of a car"
12.
impede the movement of (an opponent or a ball); "block an attack" [syn: parry]
13.
be unable to remember; "I'm drawing a blank"; "You are blocking the name of your first wife!" [syn: forget] [ant: call back]
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] [ant: free]
block 1. A unit of data or memory, often, but not exclusively, on a magnetic disk or magnetic tape. Compare record, sector. (2000-07-17) 2. To delay or sit idle while waiting for something. Compare busy-wait. (2000-07-17) 3. A delimited section of source code in a block-structured language. (2004-09-29)
Block\, n. [OE. blok; cf. F. bloc (fr. OHG.), D. & Dan. blok, Sw. & G. block, OHG. bloch. There is also an OHG. bloch, biloh; bi by + the same root as that of E. lock. Cf. Block, v. t., Blockade, and see Lock.]1. A piece of wood more or less bulky; a solid mass of wood, stone, etc., usually with one or more plane, or approximately plane, faces; as, a block on which a butcher chops his meat; a block by which to mount a horse; children's playing blocks, etc. Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke, And Christmas blocks are burning. --Wither. All her labor was but as a block Left in the quarry. --Tennyson. 2. The solid piece of wood on which condemned persons lay their necks when they are beheaded. Noble heads which have been brought to the block. --E. Everett. 3. The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped. Hence: The pattern or shape of a hat. He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block. --Shak. 4. A large or long building divided into separate houses or shops, or a number of houses or shops built in contact with each other so as to form one building; a row of houses or shops. 5. A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets, whether occupied by buildings or not. The new city was laid out in rectangular blocks, each block containing thirty building lots. Such an average block, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street. --Lond. Quart. Rev. 6. A grooved pulley or sheave incased in a frame or shell which is provided with a hook, eye, or strap, by which it may be attached to an object. It is used to change the direction of motion, as in raising a heavy object that can not be conveniently reached, and also, when two or more such sheaves are compounded, to change the rate of motion, or to exert increased force; -- used especially in the rigging of ships, and in tackles. 7. (Falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept. 8. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a hindrance; an obstacle; as, a block in the way. 9. A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work. 10. (Print.) A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to make it type high. 11. A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt. [Obs.] What a block art thou ! --Shak. 12. A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See Block system, below. A block of shares (Stock Exchange), a large number of shares in a stock company, sold in a lump. --Bartlett. Block printing. (a) A mode of printing (common in China and Japan) from engraved boards by means of a sheet of paper laid on the linked surface and rubbed with a brush. --S. W. Williams. (b) A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved surface coated with coloring matter. Block system on railways, a system by which the track is divided into sections of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric signals that no train enters a section or block before the preceding train has left it.
Block\, n. [OE. blok; cf. F. bloc (fr. OHG.), D. & Dan. blok, Sw. & G. block, OHG. bloch. There is also an OHG. bloch, biloh; bi by + the same root as that of E. lock. Cf. Block, v. t., Blockade, and see Lock.]1. A piece of wood more or less bulky; a solid mass of wood, stone, etc., usually with one or more plane, or approximately plane, faces; as, a block on which a butcher chops his meat; a block by which to mount a horse; children's playing blocks, etc. Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke, And Christmas blocks are burning. --Wither. All her labor was but as a block Left in the quarry. --Tennyson. 2. The solid piece of wood on which condemned persons lay their necks when they are beheaded. Noble heads which have been brought to the block. --E. Everett. 3. The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped. Hence: The pattern or shape of a hat. He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block. --Shak. 4. A large or long building divided into separate houses or shops, or a number of houses or shops built in contact with each other so as to form one building; a row of houses or shops. 5. A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets, whether occupied by buildings or not. The new city was laid out in rectangular blocks, each block containing thirty building lots. Such an average block, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street. --Lond. Quart. Rev. 6. A grooved pulley or sheave incased in a frame or shell which is provided with a hook, eye, or strap, by which it may be attached to an object. It is used to change the direction of motion, as in raising a heavy object that can not be conveniently reached, and also, when two or more such sheaves are compounded, to change the rate of motion, or to exert increased force; -- used especially in the rigging of ships, and in tackles. 7. (Falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept. 8. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a hindrance; an obstacle; as, a block in the way. 9. A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work. 10. (Print.) A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to make it type high. 11. A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt. [Obs.] What a block art thou ! --Shak. 12. A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See Block system, below. A block of shares (Stock Exchange), a large number of shares in a stock company, sold in a lump. --Bartlett. Block printing. (a) A mode of printing (common in China and Japan) from engraved boards by means of a sheet of paper laid on the linked surface and rubbed with a brush. --S. W. Williams. (b) A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved surface coated with coloring matter. Block system on railways, a system by which the track is divided into sections of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric signals that no train enters a section or block before the preceding train has left it.
Block\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blocked; p. pr. & vb. n. Blocking.] [Cf. F. bloquer, fr. bloc block. See Block, n.]1. To obstruct so as to prevent passage or progress; to prevent passage from, through, or into, by obstructing the way; -- used both of persons and things; -- often followed by up; as, to block up a road or harbor. With moles . . . would block the port. --Rowe. A city . . . besieged and blocked about. --Milton. 2. To secure or support by means of blocks; to secure, as two boards at their angles of intersection, by pieces of wood glued to each. 3. To shape on, or stamp with, a block; as, to block a hat. To block out, to begin to reduce to shape; to mark out roughly; to lay out; as, to block out a plan.
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Audio Help [blok] Pronunciation Key 
