block
♦♦ block /bl'ɒk/ (blocks blocking blocked)
1 [N-COUNT] usu with supp, oft N of n
A block of flats or offices is a large building containing them.
...blocks of council flats.
...a white-painted apartment block.
2 [N-COUNT]
A block in a town is an area of land with streets on all its sides.
She walked four blocks down High Street...
He walked around the block three times.
3 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
A block of a substance is a large rectangular piece of it.
...a block of ice.
4 [VERB] V n, V-ed
To block a road, channel, or pipe means to put an object across it or in it so that nothing can pass through it or along it.
Some students today blocked a highway that cuts through the center of the city...
He can clear blocked drains.
5 [VERB] V n
If something blocks your view, it prevents you from seeing something because it is between you and that thing.
...a row of spruce trees that blocked his view of the long north slope of the mountain.
= obstruct
6 [VERB] V n
If you block someone's way, you prevent them from going somewhere or entering a place by standing in front of them.
I started to move round him, but he blocked my way...
7 [VERB] V n
If you block something that is being arranged, you prevent it from being done.
For years the country has tried to block imports of various cheap foreign products...
8 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
A block of something such as tickets or shares is a large quantity of them, especially when they are all sold at the same time and are in a particular sequence or order.
Those booking a block of seats get them at reduced rates.
9 [N-COUNT] usu supp N
If you have a mental block or a block, you are temporarily unable to do something that you can normally do which involves using, thinking about, or remembering something.
10
a chip off the old block: see chip
see also breeze-block, building block, starting block, starting block, stumbling block, tower blockblock capi|tals
[N-PLURAL] usu in N
Block capitals are simple capital letters that are not decorated in any way.block in
[PHRASAL VERB] get V-ed P, V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If you are blocked in, someone has parked their car in such a way that you cannot drive yours away.
Our cars get blocked in and we can't leave for ages...
Oh, is that your car outside? I may have blocked you in.block let|ters
[N-PLURAL] usu in N
Block letters are the same as block capitals.block off
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
When you block off a door, window, or passage, you put something across it so that nothing can pass through it.
They had blocked off the fireplaces to stop draughts.block out
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P of n
If someone blocks out a thought, they try not to think about it.
She accuses me of having blocked out the past...
I had to block the thought out of my mind.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
Something that blocks out light prevents it from reaching a place.
Thick chipboard across the window frames blocked out the daylight...
Those clouds would have cast shadows that would have blocked some sunlight out.block vote (block votes)
[N-COUNT]
A block vote is a large number of votes that are all cast in the same way by one person on behalf of a group of people.build|ing block (building blocks)
[N-COUNT] usu with supp
If you describe something as a building block of something, you mean it is one of the separate parts that combine to make that thing.
...molecules that are the building blocks of all life on earth.cin|der block /s'ɪndər blɒk/ (cinder blocks)
also cinderblock
[N-COUNT] oft N n
A cinder block is a large grey brick made from coal cinders and cement which is used for building. (AM; in BRIT, use breeze-block)start|ing block (starting blocks)
[N-COUNT] usu pl
Starting blocks are blocks which runners put their feet against to help them move quickly forward at the start of a race.stum|bling block (stumbling blocks)
[N-COUNT] oft N to/in n
A stumbling block is a problem which stops you from achieving something.
Perhaps the major stumbling block to reunification is the military presence in South Korea.tow|er block (tower blocks)
[N-COUNT]
A tower block is a tall building divided into flats or offices. (BRIT; in AM, use high-rise building, high-rise)
...a 23-storey tower block.
1 [N-COUNT] usu with supp, oft N of n
A block of flats or offices is a large building containing them.
...blocks of council flats.
...a white-painted apartment block.
2 [N-COUNT]
A block in a town is an area of land with streets on all its sides.
She walked four blocks down High Street...
He walked around the block three times.
3 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
A block of a substance is a large rectangular piece of it.
...a block of ice.
4 [VERB] V n, V-ed
To block a road, channel, or pipe means to put an object across it or in it so that nothing can pass through it or along it.
Some students today blocked a highway that cuts through the center of the city...
He can clear blocked drains.
5 [VERB] V n
If something blocks your view, it prevents you from seeing something because it is between you and that thing.
...a row of spruce trees that blocked his view of the long north slope of the mountain.
= obstruct
6 [VERB] V n
If you block someone's way, you prevent them from going somewhere or entering a place by standing in front of them.
I started to move round him, but he blocked my way...
7 [VERB] V n
If you block something that is being arranged, you prevent it from being done.
For years the country has tried to block imports of various cheap foreign products...
8 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
A block of something such as tickets or shares is a large quantity of them, especially when they are all sold at the same time and are in a particular sequence or order.
Those booking a block of seats get them at reduced rates.
9 [N-COUNT] usu supp N
If you have a mental block or a block, you are temporarily unable to do something that you can normally do which involves using, thinking about, or remembering something.
10
a chip off the old block: see chip
see also breeze-block, building block, starting block, starting block, stumbling block, tower blockblock capi|tals
[N-PLURAL] usu in N
Block capitals are simple capital letters that are not decorated in any way.block in
[PHRASAL VERB] get V-ed P, V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If you are blocked in, someone has parked their car in such a way that you cannot drive yours away.
Our cars get blocked in and we can't leave for ages...
Oh, is that your car outside? I may have blocked you in.block let|ters
[N-PLURAL] usu in N
Block letters are the same as block capitals.block off
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
When you block off a door, window, or passage, you put something across it so that nothing can pass through it.
They had blocked off the fireplaces to stop draughts.block out
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P of n
If someone blocks out a thought, they try not to think about it.
She accuses me of having blocked out the past...
I had to block the thought out of my mind.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
Something that blocks out light prevents it from reaching a place.
Thick chipboard across the window frames blocked out the daylight...
Those clouds would have cast shadows that would have blocked some sunlight out.block vote (block votes)
[N-COUNT]
A block vote is a large number of votes that are all cast in the same way by one person on behalf of a group of people.build|ing block (building blocks)
[N-COUNT] usu with supp
If you describe something as a building block of something, you mean it is one of the separate parts that combine to make that thing.
...molecules that are the building blocks of all life on earth.cin|der block /s'ɪndər blɒk/ (cinder blocks)
also cinderblock
[N-COUNT] oft N n
A cinder block is a large grey brick made from coal cinders and cement which is used for building. (AM; in BRIT, use breeze-block)start|ing block (starting blocks)
[N-COUNT] usu pl
Starting blocks are blocks which runners put their feet against to help them move quickly forward at the start of a race.stum|bling block (stumbling blocks)
[N-COUNT] oft N to/in n
A stumbling block is a problem which stops you from achieving something.
Perhaps the major stumbling block to reunification is the military presence in South Korea.tow|er block (tower blocks)
[N-COUNT]
A tower block is a tall building divided into flats or offices. (BRIT; in AM, use high-rise building, high-rise)
...a 23-storey tower block.