block

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)
• COUNT in NET: 9 in 9 verses (in OT : 5 in 5 verses) (in NT : 4 in 4 verses)

CIDE DICTIONARY

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.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke,
  And Christmas blocks are burning."  [1913 Webster]

  "All her labor was but as a block
  Left in the quarry."  [1913 Webster]
•  The solid piece of wood on which condemned persons lay their necks when they are beheaded.  [1913 Webster]

  "Noble heads which have been brought to the block."  [1913 Webster]
•  The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped.  [1913 Webster]

  "He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets, whether occupied by buildings or not.  [1913 Webster]

  "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."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  The perch on which a bird of prey is kept.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a hindrance; an obstacle; -- also called blockage; as, a block in the way; a block in an artery; a block in a nerve; a block in a biochemical pathway.  [1913 Webster]
•  A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work.  [1913 Webster]
•  A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to make it type high.  [1913 Webster]
•  A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt.  [1913 Webster]

  "What a block art thou !"  [1913 Webster]
•  A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See Block system, below.  [1913 Webster]
•  In Australia, one of the large lots into which public land, when opened to settlers, is divided by the government surveyors.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  The position of a player or bat when guarding the wicket.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  a number of individual items sold as a unit; as, a block of airline ticketes; a block of hotel rooms; a block of stock.  [PJC]
•  the length of one side of a city block{5}, traversed along any side; as, to walk three blocks ahead and turn left at the corner.  [PJC]
•  a halt in a mental process, especially one due to stress, memory lapse, confusion, etc.; as, a writer's block; to have a block in remembering a name.  [PJC]
•  a quantity of binary-encoded information transferred, or stored, as a unit to, from, or on a data storage device; as, to divide a disk into 512-byte blocks.  [PJC]
•  a number of locations in a random-access memory allocated to storage of specific data; as, to allocate a block of 1024 bytes for the stack.  [PJC]

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. -- Back blocks, Australian pastoral country which is remote from the seacoast or from a river.

block, v. t. [Cf. F. bloquer, fr. bloc block. See Block, n.].

•  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; to block an entrance.  [1913 Webster]

  "With moles . . . would block the port."  [1913 Webster]

  "A city . . . besieged and blocked about."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  To shape on, or stamp with, a block; as, to block a hat.  [1913 Webster]
•  to cause (any activity) to halt by creating an obstruction; as, to block a nerve impulse; to block a biochemical reaction with a drug.  [PJC]

To block out, to begin to reduce to shape; to mark out roughly; to lay out; to outline; as, to block out a plan.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

block, n., v., & adj.
--n.
1 a solid hewn or unhewn piece of hard material, esp. of rock, stone, or wood (block of ice).
2 a flat-topped block used as a base for chopping, beheading, standing something on, hammering on, or for mounting a horse from.
3 a a large building, esp. when subdivided (block of flats). b a compact mass of buildings bounded by (usu. four) streets.
4 an obstruction; anything preventing progress or normal working (a block in the pipe).
5 a chock for stopping the motion of a wheel etc.
6 a pulley or system of pulleys mounted in a case.
7 (in pl.) any of a set of solid cubes etc., used as a child's toy.
8 Printing a piece of wood or metal engraved for printing on paper or fabric.
9 a head-shaped mould used for shaping hats or wigs.
10 sl. the head (knock his block off).
11 US a the area between streets in a town or suburb. b the length of such an area, esp. as a measure of distance (lives three blocks away).
12 a stolid, unimaginative, or hard-hearted person.
13 a large quantity or allocation of things treated as a unit, esp. shares, seats in a theatre, etc.
14 a set of sheets of paper used for writing, or esp. drawing, glued along one edge.
15 Cricket a spot on which a batsman blocks the ball before the wicket, and rests the bat before playing.
16 Athletics = starting-block.
17 Amer. Football a blocking action.
18 Austral. a a tract of land offered to an individual settler by a government. b a large area of land.
--v.tr.
1 a (often foll. by up) obstruct (a passage etc.) (the road was blocked; you are blocking my view). b put obstacles in the way of (progress etc.).
2 restrict the use or conversion of (currency or any other asset).
3 use a block for making (a hat, wig, etc.).
4 emboss or impress a design on (a book cover).
5 Cricket stop (a ball) with a bat defensively.
6 Amer. Football intercept (an opponent) with one's body.
--attrib.adj. treating (many similar things) as one unit (block booking).

Idiom

block and tackle a system of pulleys and ropes, esp. for lifting. block capitals (or letters) letters printed without serifs, or written with each letter separate and in capitals. block diagram a diagram showing the general arrangement of parts of an apparatus. block in
1 sketch roughly; plan.
2 confine. block mountain Geol. a mountain formed by natural faults.
block out
1 a shut out (light, noise, etc.). b exclude from memory, as being too painful.
2 sketch roughly; plan. block-ship Naut. a ship used to block a channel. block system a system by which no railway train may enter a section that is not clear. block tin refined tin cast in ingots.
block up
1 confine; shut (a person etc.) in.
2 infill (a window, doorway, etc.) with bricks etc. block vote a vote proportional in power to the number of people a delegate represents. mental (or psychological) block a particular mental inability due to subconscious emotional factors. on the block US being auctioned. put the blocks on prevent from proceeding.

Derivative

blocker n.

Etymology

ME f. OF bloc, bloquer f. MDu. blok, of unkn. orig.

THESAURUS

block

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

ROGET THESAURUS

block

Hindrance

N hindrance, prevention, preclusion, obstruction, stoppage, embolus, embolism, infarct, interruption, interception, interclusion, hindrance, impedition, retardment, retardation, embarrassment, oppilation, coarctation, stricture, restriction, restraint, inhibition, blockade, interference, interposition, obtrusion, discouragement, discountenance, impediment, let, obstacle, obstruction, knot, knag, check, hitch, contretemps, screw loose, grit in the oil, bar, stile, barrier, turnstile, turnpike, gate, portcullis, beaver dam, trocha, barricade, wall, dead wall, sea wall, levee breakwater, groyne, bulkhead, block, buffer, stopper, boom, dam, weir, burrock, drawback, objection, stumbling-block, stumbling-stone, lion in the path, snag, snags and sawyers, encumbrance, incumbrance, clog, skid, shoe, spoke, drag, drag chain, drag weight, stay, stop, preventive, prophylactic, load, burden, fardel, onus, millstone round one's neck, impedimenta, dead weight, lumber, pack, nightmare, Ephialtes, incubus, old man of the sea, remora, difficulty, insuperable, obstacle, estoppel, ill wind, head wind, trammel, tether, hold back, counterpoise, damper, wet blanket, hinderer, marplot, killjoy, party pooper, party crasher, interloper, trail of a red herring, opponent, hindering, obstructive, obstruent, impeditive, impedient, intercipient, prophylactic, impedimentary, in the way of, unfavorable, onerous, burdensome, cumbrous, cumbersome, obtrusive, hindered, windbound, waterlogged, heavy laden, hard pressed, unassisted &c (assist), single-handed, alone, deserted, occurrent nubes.

VB hinder, impede, filibuster, impedite, embarrass, keep off, stave off, ward off, obviate, avert, antevert, turn aside, draw off, prevent, forefend, nip in the bud, retard, slacken, check, let, counteract, countercheck, preclude, debar, foreclose, estop, inhibit, shackle, restrict, obstruct, stop, stay, bar, bolt, lock, block, block up, choke off, belay, barricade, block the way, bar the way, stop the way, forelay, dam up, put on the brake, scotch the wheel, lock the wheel, put a spoke in the wheel, put a stop to, traverse, contravene, interrupt, intercept, oppose, hedge in, hedge round, cut off, inerclude, interpose, interfere, intermeddle, cramp, hamper, clog, clog the wheels, cumber, encumber, incumber, handicap, choke, saddle with, load with, overload, lay, lumber, trammel, tie one's hands, put to inconvenience, incommode, discommode, discompose, hustle, corner, drive into a corner, run foul of, fall foul of, cross the path of, break in upon, thwart, frustrate, disconcert, balk, foil, faze, feaze, feeze, baffle, snub, override, circumvent, defeat, spike guns, spoil, mar, clip the wings of, cripple, put an extinguisher on, damp, dishearten, discountenance, throw cold water on, spoil sport, lay a wet blanket, throw a wet blanket on, cut the ground from under one, take the wind out of one's sails, undermine, be in the way of, stand in the way of, act as a drag, hang like a millstone round one's neck.

Scourge

N scourge, rod, cane, stick, ratan, rattan, birch, birch rod, azote, blacksnake, bullwhack, chicote, kurbash, quirt, rawhide, sjambok, rod in pickle, switch, ferule, cudgel, truncheon, whip, bullwhip, lash, strap, thong, cowhide, knout, cat, cat o'nine tails, rope's end, pillory, stocks, whipping post, cucking stool, ducking stool, brank, trebuchet, trebuket, triangle, wooden horse, iron maiden, thumbscrew, boot, rack, wheel, iron heel, chinese water torture, treadmill, crank, galleys, scaffold, block, ax, guillotine, stake, cross, gallows, gibbet, tree, drop, noose, rope, halter, bowstring, death chair, electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection, firing squad, mecate, house of correction, goaler, jailer, executioner, electrocutioner, lyncher, hangman, headsman, Jack Ketch.

Counteraction

VB counteract, run counter, clash, cross, interfere with, conflict with, contravene, jostle, go against, run against, beat against, militate against, stultify, antagonize, block, oppose, traverse, withstand, hinder, repress, react, undo, neutralize, counterpoise, overpoise.

Size

N size, magnitude, dimension, bulk, volume, largeness, greatness, expanse, amplitude, mass, proportions, capacity, tonnage, tunnage, cordage, caliber, scantling, turgidity, corpulence, obesity, plumpness, embonpoint, corporation, flesh and blood, lustihood, hugeness, enormity, immensity, monstrosity, giant, Brobdingnagian, Antaeus, Goliath, Gog and Magog, Gargantua, monster, mammoth, Cyclops, cachalot, whale, porpoise, behemoth, leviathan, elephant, hippopotamus, colossus, tun, cord, lump, bulk, block, loaf, mass, swad, clod, nugget, bushel, thumper, whooper, spanker, strapper, Triton among the minnows, mountain, mound, heap, largest portion, full size, life size, large, big, great, considerable, bulky, voluminous, ample, massive, massy, capacious, comprehensive, spacious, mighty, towering, fine, magnificent, corpulent, stout, fat, obese, plump, squab, full, lusty, strapping, bouncing, portly, burly, well-fed, full-grown, corn fed, gram fed, stalwart, brawny, fleshy, goodly, in good case, in good condition, in condition, chopping, jolly, chub faced, chubby faced, lubberly, hulky, unwieldy, lumpish, gaunt, spanking, whacking, whopping, walloping, thumping, thundering, hulking, overgrown, puffy, huge, immense, enormous, mighty, vast, vasty, amplitudinous, stupendous, monster, monstrous, humongous, monumental, elephantine, jumbo, mammoth, gigantic, gigantean, giant, giant like, titanic, prodigious, colossal, Cyclopean, Brobdingnagian, Bunyanesque, Herculean, Gargantuan, infinite, large as life, plump as a dumpling, plump as a partridge, fat as a pig, fat as a quail, fat as butter, fat as brawn, fat as bacon, immeasurable, unfathomable, unplumbed, inconceivable, unimaginable, unheard-of, of cosmic proportions, of epic proportions, the mother of all, teh granddaddy of all.

Support

N support, ground, foundation, base, basis, terra firma, bearing, fulcrum, bait, caudex crib, point d'appui, pou sto, purchase footing, hold, locus standi, landing place, landing stage, stage, platform, block, rest, resting place, groundwork, substratum, riprap, sustentation, subvention, floor, supporter, aid, prop, stand, anvil, fulciment, cue rest, jigger, monkey, stay, shore, skid, rib, truss, bandage, sleeper, stirrup, stilts, shoe, sole, heel, splint, lap, bar, rod, boom, sprit, outrigger, ratlings, staff, stick, crutch, alpenstock, baton, staddle, bourdon, cowlstaff, lathi, mahlstick, post, pillar, shaft, thill, column, pilaster, pediment, pedicle, pedestal, plinth, shank, leg, socle, zocle, buttress, jamb, mullion, abutment, baluster, banister, stanchion, balustrade, headstone, upright, door post, jamb, door jamb, frame, framework, scaffold, skeleton, beam, rafter, girder, lintel, joist, travis, trave, corner stone, summer, transom, rung, round, step, sill, angle rafter, hip rafter, cantilever, modillion, crown post, king post, vertebra, columella, backbone, keystone, axle, axletree, axis, arch, mainstay, trunnion, pivot, rowlock, peg, tiebeam, thole pin, board, ledge, shelf, hob, bracket, trevet, trivet, arbor, rack, mantel, mantle piece, mantleshelf, slab, console, counter, dresser, flange, corbel, table, trestle, shoulder, perch, horse, easel, desk, clotheshorse, hatrack, retable, teapoy, seat, throne, dais, divan, musnud, chair, bench, form, stool, sofa, settee, stall, arm chair, easy chair, elbow chair, rocking chair, couch, fauteuil, woolsack, ottoman, settle, squab, bench, aparejo, faldstool, horn, long chair, long sleeve chair, morris chair, lamba chauki, lamba kursi, saddle, pannel, pillion, side saddle, pack saddle, pommel, bed, berth, pallet, tester, crib, cot, hammock, shakedown, trucklebed, cradle, litter, stretcher, bedstead, four poster, French bed, bunk, kip, palang, bedding, bichhona, mattress, paillasse, pillow, bolster, mat, rug, cushion, footstool, hassock, tabouret, tripod, monopod, Atlas, Persides, Atlantes, Caryatides, Hercules, supporting, supported, fundamental, dorsigerous, astride on, straddle.

Density

N density, solidity, solidness, impenetrability, impermeability, incompressibility, imporosity, cohesion, constipation, consistence, spissitude, specific gravity, hydrometer, areometer, condensation, caseation, solidation, solidification, consolidation, concretion, coagulation, petrification, crystallization, precipitation, deposit, precipitate, inspissation, gelation, thickening, indivisibility, indiscerptibility, insolubility, indissolvableness, solid body, mass, block, knot, lump, concretion, concrete, conglomerate, cake, clot, stone, curd, coagulum, bone, gristle, cartilage, casein, crassamentum, legumin, superdense matter, condensed states of matter, dwarf star, neutron star, dense, solid, solidified, caseous, pukka, coherent, cohesive, compact, close, serried, thickset, substantial, massive, lumpish, impenetrable, impermeable, nonporous, imporous, incompressible, constipated, concrete, knotted, knotty, gnarled, crystalline, crystallizable, thick, grumous, stuffy, undissolved, unmelted, unliquefied, unthawed, indivisible, indiscerptible, infrangible, indissolvable, indissoluble, insoluble, infusible.

Hardness

N hardness, rigidity, renitence, renitency, inflexibility, temper, callosity, durity, induration, petrifaction, lapidification, lapidescence, vitrification, ossification, crystallization, stone, pebble, flint, marble, rock, fossil, crag, crystal, quartz, granite, adamant, bone, cartilage, hardware, heart of oak, block, board, deal board, iron, steel, cast iron, decarbonized iron, wrought iron, nail, brick, concrete, cement, hard, rigid, stubborn, stiff, firm, starch, starched, stark, unbending, unlimber, unyielding, inflexible, tense, indurate, indurated, gritty, proof, adamant, adamantine, adamantean, concrete, stony, granitic, calculous, lithic, vitreous, horny, corneous, bony, osseous, ossific, cartilaginous, hard as a rock, stiff as buckram, stiff as a poker, stiff as starch, stiff as as board.

Fool

N fool, idiot, tomfool, wiseacre, simpleton, witling, dizzard, donkey, ass, ninny, ninnyhammer, chowderhead, chucklehead, dolt, booby, Tom Noddy, looby, hoddy-doddy, noddy, nonny, noodle, nizy, owl, goose, goosecap, imbecile, gaby, radoteur, nincompoop, badaud, zany, trifler, babbler, pretty fellow, natural, niais, child, baby, infant, innocent, milksop, sop, oaf, lout, loon, lown, dullard, doodle, calf, colt, buzzard, block, put, stick, stock, numps, tony, bull head, dunderhead, addlehead, blockhead, dullhead, loggerhead, jolthead, jolterhead, beetlehead, beetlebrain, grosshead, muttonhead, noodlehead, giddyhead, numbskull, thickskull, lackbrain, shallowbrain, dimwit, halfwit, lackwit, dunderpate, lunkhead sawney, gowk, clod, clod-hopper, clod-poll, clot-poll, clot-pate, bull calf, gawk, Gothamite, lummox, rube, men of Boeotia, wise men of Gotham, un sot a triple etage, sot, jobbernowl, changeling, mooncalf, gobemouche, dotard, driveler, old fogey, old woman, crock, crone, grandmother, cotquean, henhussy, incompetent (insanity), greenhorn, dunce, lubber, madman, one who will not set the Thames on fire, one who did not invent gunpowder, qui n'a pas invente' la poudre, no conjuror, fortuna favet fatuis, les fous font les festinas et les sages les mangen, nomina stultorum parietibus harrent, stultorum plena sunt omnia.