block

noun

• 1a large solid piece of hard material, especially rock, stone, or wood, typically with flat surfaces on each side:a block of marble
• a sturdy, flat-topped block used as a work surface, typically for chopping food.
• (usually blocks) any of a set of solid cubes used as a child’s toy.
• (usually blocks) a starting block:the thrust a sprinter gets when coming out of the blocks
• Printing a piece of wood or metal engraved for printing on paper or fabric.
• (also cylinder block or engine block) the main body of an internal combustion engine, containing the pistons.
• a head-shaped mold used for shaping hats or wigs.

• 2the area bounded by four streets in a town or suburb:she went for a run around the block ours was the ugliest house on the block
• the length of one side of a town block, typically as a measure of distance:he lives a few blocks away from the museum

• 3 [with modifier] a building, especially part of a complex, used for a particular purpose:a cell block
• chiefly British a large single building subdivided into separate rooms, apartments, or offices:an apartment block

• 4a large quantity or allocation of things regarded as a unit:a block of shares [as modifier]:block grants
• Computing a large piece of text processed as a unit.
• chiefly British a set of sheets of paper glued along one edge, used for drawing or writing on:a sketching block
• an unseparated unit of at least four postage stamps in at least two rows, generally a group of four.

• 5an obstacle to the normal progress or functioning of something:substantial demands for time off may constitute a block to career advancement an emotional block
• Sports a hindering or stopping of an opponent’s movement or action.
• Tennis a shot in which the racket is held stationary rather than being swung back, especially a stop volley.
• short for mental block.
• short for nerve block.
• a chock for stopping the motion of a wheel.

• 6a flat area of something, typically a solid area of color:cover the eyelid with a neutral block of color

• 7a pulley or system of pulleys mounted in a case.

• 8 informal a person’s head:“I’ll knock your block off,” he said

verb

• 1make the movement or flow in (a passage, pipe, road, etc.) difficult or impossible:block up the holes with sticky tape a police cordon blocked off roads (as adjective blocked)a blocked nose
• put an obstacle in the way of (something proposed or attempted):he stood up, blocking her escape the administration tried to block an agreement on farm subsidies
• restrict the use or conversion of (currency or any other asset).
• Sports hinder or stop the movement or action of (an opponent, a ball, etc.).
• Medicine produce insensibility in (a part of the body) by injecting an anesthetic close to the nerves that supply it.
• Bridge play in such a way that an opponent cannot establish (a long suit).

• 2impress text or a design on (a book cover).

• 3 Theater design or plan the movements of actors on a stage or movie set.

• 4shape or reshape (a hat) using a wooden mold.