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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

All her labor was but as a block
Left in the quarry. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. 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. E. Everett. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped. Hence: The pattern or shape of a hat. [ 1913 Webster ]

He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. 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. Lond. Quart. Rev. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. 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 ]

9. A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

What a block art thou ! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See Block system, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. In Australia, one of the large lots into which public land, when opened to settlers, is divided by the government surveyors. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

14. (Cricket) (a) The position of a player or bat when guarding the wicket. (b) A block hole. (c) The popping crease. [ R. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

15. 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 ]

16. 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 ]

17. 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 ]

18. (computers) 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 ]

19. (computers) 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. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blockaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blockading. ] 1. To shut up, as a town or fortress, by investing it with troops or vessels or war for the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the introduction of supplies. See note under Blockade, n. “Blockaded the place by sea.” Gilpin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to shut in so as to prevent egress. [ 1913 Webster ]

Till storm and driving ice blockade him there. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To obstruct entrance to or egress from. [ 1913 Webster ]

Huge bales of British cloth blockade the door. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. It. bloccata. See Block, v. t. ] 1. The shutting up of a place by troops or ships, with the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the reception of supplies; as, the blockade of the ports of an enemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Blockade is now usually applied to an investment with ships or vessels, while siege is used of an investment by land forces. To constitute a blockade, the investing power must be able to apply its force to every point of practicable access, so as to render it dangerous to attempt to enter; and there is no blockade of that port where its force can not be brought to bear. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An obstruction to passage. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (physiology) interference with transmission of a physiological signal, or a physiological reaction. [ PJC ]

To raise a blockade. See under Raise. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having access obstructed by emplacement of a barrier, or by threat of force.
Syn. -- barricaded, barred. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. One who blockades. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) A vessel employed in blockading. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of blocking up; the state of being blocked up. [ 1913 Webster ]

A book printed from engraved wooden blocks instead of movable types. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mach.) A chain in which the alternate links are broad blocks connected by thin side links pivoted to the ends of the blocks, used with sprocket wheels to transmit power, as in a bicycle. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]