roadblockn.
/ˈrəʊdblɒk/, U.S. /ˈroʊdˌblɑk/ 1. A paving block.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > stone as material for paving > a paving stone
paving stone1474
pavement stone1575
pavement1589
pavior1611
paver1696
pavestone1810
paving slab1825
paving flag1845
roadblock1862
pave1897
1862 Patents for Inventions: Abridgm. Roads & Ways 40 The employment of road blocks, having ‘angular or curved sides, or angular and concave sides’.
1925 Times 19 May 24/1 It is also suitable for paving slabs, road blocks, railway platforms, &c.
1991 P. Arthur Romans in Northern Campania iv. 53/2 A paved diverticulum, now evidenced by scattered road blocks, led to the hypothesized site of the vicus Caedicius.
2.
a. A thing that blocks a road; a barrier or barricade across a road, esp. one set up by the police or army to stop vehicles, carry out safety or security checks, etc.In quot. 1913: a person that is blocking a road.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > across a road
roadblock1913
1913 Rec. Christian Work 32 649/2 There on the trail is an ugly..individual, that everlasting roadblock,..who says he is a king... He is holding you up to pay him for permission to pass on.
1919 Field Artillery Jrnl. 9 272 Regiments..assisting in clearing road blocks and helping horse-drawn matériel which had become stuck in difficult terrain.
1954 X. Fielding Hide & Seek v. 67 Pedestrians..were often searched by the sentries manning the road-blocks.
1977 Centuryan (Office Cleaning Services) Christmas 15/4 They had not gone far before they came to a roadblock caused by an accident.
1992 D. Lessing Afr. Laughter 188 As we drove back to Harare there was a road block, to check for licences and the conditions of tyres.
2004 Jewish Chron. 26 Mar. 1/1 In a bid to prevent terror attacks, army roadblocks were reinforced at the entrance to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other cities.
b. Originally U.S. A person or thing that obstructs or impedes progress; an obstacle, a hindrance. Also with to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > [noun] > one who or that which hinders > a hindrance, impediment, or obstacle
hinderc1200
withsetting1340
obstaclec1385
traversea1393
mara1400
bayc1440
stoppagec1450
barrace1480
blocka1500
objecta1500
clog1526
stumbling-stone1526
bar1530
(to cast) a trump in (one's) way1548
stumbling-stock1548
hindrance1576
a log in one's way1579
crossbar1582
log1589
rub1589
threshold1600
scotch1601
dam1602
remora1604
obex1611
obstructiona1616
stumbling-blocka1616
fence1639
affront1642
retardance1645
stick1645
balk1660
obstruent1669
blockade1683
sprun1684
spoke1689
cross cause1696
uncomplaisance1707
barrier1712
obstruct1747
dike1770
abatis1808
underbrush1888
bunker1900
bump1909
sprag1914
hurdle1924
headwind1927
mudhole1933
monkey wrench1937
roadblock1945
1945 Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News 19 June 4/5 The French general is probably the only remaining road-block to Communism in France.
1952 Sun (Baltimore) 29 Feb. 19/3 This bill has been subjected to roadblock after roadblock by those attempting to delay its passage.
1977 C. Miller & K. Swift Words & Women v. 71 Nowhere are the semantic roadblocks to sexual equality more apparent..than in the language of the dominant organized religions.
1990 Internat. Business Week 2 Apr. 89/1 Even after..labor contracts were hammered out with the three unions, the talks hit another roadblock: price.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
roadblockv.
/ˈrəʊdblɒk/, U.S. /ˈroʊdˌblɑk/ 1. transitive. Originally U.S. To prevent or impede the progress or achievement of (something); to obstruct, hinder. See roadblock n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > close by obstruction or block up > block the way or a passage
forsetc900
withseta1300
stop13..
speara1325
withsperre1330
to stop one's way1338
shut1362
forbara1375
beseta1400
stopc1400
precludea1513
interclude1526
to shut up1526
forestall1528
fence1535
hedge1535
quar1542
foreclose1548
forestop1566
to flounder up1576
obstruct1578
bar1590
retrench1590
to shut the door in (also upon) (a person's) face1596
barricade1606
barricado1611
thwartc1630
blocka1644
overthwart1654
rebarricado1655
to choke up1673
blockade1696
embarrass1735
snow1816
roadblock1950
1950 N.Y. Times 6 June 1/4 The Soviet Union, he declared, had ‘roadblocked every other avenue’ and a ‘cold war’ could be won ‘only by strength, not by weakness’.
1955 Newsweek 10 Jan. 20/1 The debate that followed roadblocked Mr. Eisenhower's legislative program for weeks.
1965 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 10 153 The analysis of texts, opening the way to ethnographic and historical studies that otherwise would still be roadblocked.
2007 Guardian 30 Nov. 43/2 The Bush administration, still roadblocking firm caps on emissions, wants to let the market solve the crisis.
2. transitive. To cut off access to (a place, town, etc.) with a roadblock or roadblocks; to erect a roadblock across (a road or other thoroughfare).
ΚΠ
1972 Listener 10 Feb. 167/2 The Army road-blocked Newry.
1984 Guardian (Nexis) 25 July The police..started roadblocking the Dartford Tunnel to stop the Kent lads coming up.
1991 L. Niven et al. Fallen Angels 56 Team Leader ‘Robert’ points out that Fargo Gap..is a choke point, and sure to be roadblocked by now.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1862v.1950