Definition of block in English:

block

noun blɒkblɑk

1A large solid piece of hard material, especially rock, stone, or wood, typically with flat surfaces on each side.
a block of marble
Example sentencesExamples
- We waited two more months, saving enough to purchase 1,500 concrete blocks for the basement walls.
- One of the beds is even held up by a stack of wooden blocks!
- It is unfashionable to say so, but there is something powerfully evocative about this block of stone.
- An Incan wall of irregular stone blocks, fitted together so precisely that even after centuries of earthquakes it is not possible to fit a piece of paper between the joints.
- You're going to need a paved surface, concrete blocks, Tarmac even, so the delivery vehicles can get to the shops by the river.
- It is hoped to build a block wall faced with stone as soon as possible.
- Common building materials are concrete blocks and bricks.
- The upper guide had a steel roller at the back of the saw with hard maple side blocks.
- The strapping is used for a wide range of materials such as bricks, blocks, briquettes and tiles.
- In their traditional form, glass blocks are set like bricks or concrete blocks - one block at a time in slow, carefully constructed rows.
- It was like we were sitting on opposite sides of a block of marble.
- These huge, isolated blocks of rock look as though they should not be there.
- This guy has built various mathematical surfaces from lego blocks and some of them look amazingly intricate.
- Other materials for terraces include bricks, rocks, concrete blocks, and similar masonry materials.
- All the features, including stone blocks, wooden and steel doors and even the ironmongery, were hand-carved by the company's craft experts.
- The surface of gravel or blocks set on stone provides another permeable layer.
- There, as it had been during his initial inspection, was a stone block wall just as solid as any other in the castle.
- Now it resembled a low fortress wall with blocks of stone evenly cut and dressed, and white lines to guide devotees on moonless nights.
- Alex indicated a small, wooden block embedded in the stone floor.
- Its walls are made of solid stone blocks weighing over sixty tons each.
Synonyms
chunk, hunk, brick, slab, lump, piece
1. 1.1 A sturdy flat-topped piece of wood used as a work surface.
  a chopping block
  Example sentencesExamples
  Extracting a block of wood and a knife he held it up to her from his seat on the floor.
  She took out a large knife from the cutting block and sliced a piece of cheese, promptly eating one.
2. 1.2 A packaged rectangular portion of butter, ice cream, chocolate, etc.
  a family block of ice cream
  Example sentencesExamples
  The ‘glass’ was a square block of ice with a hole in the centre.
  He had unwrapped a large block of chocolate and had carelessly scattered his wrapper on the ground even though the bin was only a few metres away.
  It's at home, but the only time I've only ever used it has been for melting blocks of chocolate to make sauces.
  When you are ready to serve, cut the caramel block into your desired portion sizes and indulge.
  The easiest way to shape thin chocolate curls is to shave them directly from a block of chocolate, using a swivel vegetable peeler or sharp knife.
  I would go with my dad to awards banquets, where we would politely eat cold chicken, hard green peas, and a block of Neapolitan ice cream.
  I chewed ravenously as he pulled out a block of cheese and a slab of dried meat wrapped in a cloth.
  To make the curls, pull a vegetable peeler across the block of cheese.
  The ice cream came in blocks about six inches square.
  I felt like I'd just discovered a block of my favourite chocolate in the fridge just when I was feeling peckish.
  So much work and time for just a measly block of cheese.
  They couldn't have been simpler, just a block of vanilla ice cream in a glass and then fill with either coke or lemonade.
  It is made by placing a well-chilled block of ice cream on a base of sponge cake, masking it with uncooked meringue, and then baking it in a hot oven.
  In Chapter 2 we likened Mark's gospel to a block of chocolate which can easily be broken up into separate pieces.
  She took out a loaf of rye bread and a block of cheese wrapped in more paper.
  The charity will also insist that parents should be allowed to take the leave on a full-time or part-time basis, in one block of time or in several shorter blocks.
  Maybe you could give her a batch of bran muffins, a block of cheese, some fruit and some juice boxes every week.
  Bottle of milk, bottle of water, almost empty tub of margarine, half empty bottle of wine, 2 eggs and a small block of cheese.
  The recipe calls for a whole 250g block of butter.
  I dropped a block of bittersweet chocolate on a cutting board.
  Synonyms
  chunk, hunk, brick, slab, lump, piece
3. 1.3British A set of sheets of paper glued along one edge, used for drawing or writing on.
  a sketching block
  Example sentencesExamples
  And her eye falls on a ball-point pen, which is innocently lying on top of a block of squared paper.
  if you want to make good watercolor sketches, pick up a block of watercolor paper in some portable size.
  A large conference table and whiteboard occupied one side of the room; the other side was filled with desks, notebooks and drawing blocks.
  The blocks of paper demolished the wall that was being repaired by builder David Gott after they were flung from the vehicle on the sharp corner bend approaching Keighley Road from Colne.
  I had my notes, a block of standard A4 lined refill paper for my essays and a sketchbook for art.
  Synonyms
  pad, notebook, jotter, tablet, sketchbook, scratch pad
4. 1.4usually blocks A starting block.
  Jackson jetted out of his blocks
  Example sentencesExamples
  So he mounted the blocks in his resplendent blue trunks and did a massive belly flop on the starters gun.
  If our athletes feel disillusioned from the outset how on earth are they going to beat their peers when they step up to the blocks at the Olympics?
  As she blasted out of the blocks in the 400 metres in the European Championships last week, it looked like she might make qualification.
  I'm trying to focus and not to false start, fall at the line or basically walk instead of run out of the blocks as I sometimes do because any of these things could happen.
  We were slow out of the blocks against Italy but we expected a difficult game anyway in Rome.
  In every game, the pattern has been the same: The starting lineup gets out of the blocks well and quickly assumes a double-digit lead.
  Galway were out of the blocks quicker in the second half.
  Mayo roared out of the blocks and built up a commanding lead.
  So, as the women mounted the blocks for the start of the 50 meter free final, there was a certain amount of tension in the air.
  She blasted out of the blocks and immediately established her dominance over the other runners.
  The timers backed away as she stepped up to the block, for they knew Sally was now focused on the swimmers and the clock.
  Starting at the 10th hole on the final day, he shot out of the blocks, birdying the 11th and 12th.
  The sprinters get out of the blocks in the 100m as Oxford produce a superb overall team performance in the FEAR competition against Cambridge
  It was the perfect way to shrug of the frustrations of the 100m, where he was sluggish out of the blocks, but more particularly the long jump which followed the sprint.
  In 1984 at the Olympic Games, I was no better than fifth when I stepped on the blocks.
  The excitement was almost palpable as Michael stepped on the blocks on Day One for his first race, the 200 meter individual medley.
  Ireland were quicker out of the blocks, and they put immediate pressure on Scotland with two attacking moves in quick succession from penalty-created lineouts.
  As Maggie eases him over the stern of the catamaran, his flippers feel water - and suddenly he's out of the blocks like an Olympic sprinter.
  Less and less are we seeing these gleaming muscular models that step into the blocks looking more like bodybuilders than runners, particularly the women!
  He will now step up to the blocks to swim the 200, together with the 400 and 1500 free in the forthcoming games.
5. 1.5Printing A piece of wood or metal engraved for printing on paper or fabric.
  Example sentencesExamples
  The printing blocks are made of wood, metal and other materials.
  The goal is to provide practical experience about block printing and registration of blocks.
  For multi-color printing several blocks had to be carved - one for each color.
  The artist could carve an image onto wooden or metal blocks, ink the block and impress it on paper.
  He has a predilection for wallpaper and wrapping paper, to which he applies repetitive motifs using stamps made from cut and engraved blocks of wood dipped in printer's ink or paint.
6. 1.6 A large metal moulding containing the cylinders of an internal combustion engine.
  Example sentencesExamples
  These include a raised capacity, new cylinder block, pistons and crankshaft.
  Descending the reef again, I came across the engine block and crankshaft.
  For example, an automobile engine block is normally cast iron except for some which might be cast aluminum.
  In addition, there is room above the crank to isolate the camshaft in a cast tubular chamber - making the cylinder block stiffer.
  You need a piston, a manifold, then you need an engine block, a carburetor, a distributer, this that and the other thing.
  The impact was so intense that it cracked the engine block, ripped the seat bolts out of the floor board, caused the top of the car to cave in, and knocked both of my shoes off.
  The cylinder block has cast-in iron liners, and a one-piece aluminum crankshaft carrier with ferrous-carbon bearing cap inserts.
  Cables, gantries and all manner of unrecognisable machinery hamper navigation, although as time passes an exposed engine block allows me to make a bit more sense of the scene.
  Meanwhile, he says it may be possible to introduce a common cylinder block for gasoline and diesel engines within five years.
  Your engine block could freeze in the subzero winter temperatures - which seem to last from September to mid-June.
  Pistons for internal combustion engines are hard anodized to minimize the amount of thermal expansion in relation to possible thermal expansion of the engine block.
  Another was scraping resin off the engine block, to find some sort of identifying numbers.
  To fully inspect for damage, all components above the cylinder block were removed except for six of the 16 cylinder heads, one of the two charge air coolers and the engine controls.
  The engine block and cylinder head are made of cast aluminium.
  It doesn't, however, have an aluminum engine block.
  Water doesn't compress and the piston in effect hits a wall, bending or breaking a con rod and possibly shattering the engine block.
  These are bolted to the engine block and sealed with the aforementioned head gasket.
  A few chunks of twisted metal will identify the delivery vehicles, especially if the bombers forgot to file off serial numbers on the engine block.
  In addition there is a danger that freezing of water and the consequent expansion might even crack the radiator or the engine block.
  There was an expensive shriek of metal being crushed and the steam roller rose almost a full eight inches before the engine block shattered.
7. 1.7 A head-shaped mould for shaping hats or wigs.
2British A large single building subdivided into separate rooms, flats, or offices.
a block of flats
Example sentencesExamples
- Sportsmen and women will be accommodated mainly two to a room in 32 blocks in six student halls of residence.
- A five-storey block incorporating offices and flats will now go ahead following the decision by councillors last week.
- Proposals to turn part of the existing building into flats and to build two blocks of two-storey flats have caused surprise and raised questions about where any revenue from the flats would go.
- But now there are plans to knock down the 1960s building and put three blocks of flats in its place.
- We now have a ‘box’ (actually bag) recycling scheme in our block for textiles, paper, cardboard, glass and tins.
- There would be 182 one and two-bedroom flats separated into three four-storey blocks on the site.
- Terraces and higher blocks of residential with offices on lower storeys, with 10 acre park on podium.
- Now the firm has drawn up a new scheme for two seven-storey blocks of flats and a three-storey shopping and office complex.
- Members ignored officers' advice and said two three-storey blocks of flats would have an adverse impact on neighbouring homes through overdevelopment.
- There must be some residential development in the area but we don't want blocks of flats or offices.
- The scheme, which includes terraced homes and three-storey blocks of flats, has already been given permission in principle.
- The third phase will involve the demolition of three accommodation blocks to make room for two new ones.
- The church still stands, now surrounded by office buildings and blocks of flats, and looking rather small among its neighbours.
- Nests have been known on railway bridges only a few feet below the tracks, in buildings near office blocks and on balconies of blocks of flats
- I was disturbed that 2 office blocks and a block of flats have sprung up on what were empty spaces in a nearby town since I last went past a month ago.
- On the north, the block contains a wooden staircase to the gallery and terrace, and bath- and shower-rooms.
- In contrast, most British residential blocks of flats were built by local authorities in the 1950s - 70s.
- The apartments will be in two blocks separated by a newly - created close, continuing the use of The Old Fish Market Close.
- The library building will be ripped down and replaced with a block of 29 sheltered accommodation flats and a new ground floor library.
- Whether you opt for a single flat or whole block, though, choosing where to buy can require some careful research.
Synonyms
building, complex, structure, development
1. 2.1 A building or part of a complex used for a particular purpose.
  a shower block
  Example sentencesExamples
  But the school burned down and many classrooms and hostel blocks were completely destroyed.
  Meters have been re-connected in shower blocks.
  The blaze wrecked the school's offices, staff room, medical room and toilet block.
  And then the area surrounding that, right from the edge of the stable block into the Botanic Gardens, has now been created into a very large roof space.
  It was not just a pure fun programme mind you, but the proceeds of this show will go for building of a sanitary block for the school.
  They walked inside the front entrance together and then went their separate ways to form rooms about two school blocks apart.
  There was a shower block for which you had to queue.
  A new roof and heating system are among the priorities, as are upgraded toilet and shower blocks.
  A women's centre and an urban prayer garden complete the Cathedral block.
  The fire started in a manure heap on their farm, engulfed a trailer and looked set to spread along the stable block.
  The completion of the science block is not the end of developments at the School.
  They all have static caravans, some with their own showers - and if not, there are shower blocks.
  A new roof and boilers are needed, along with new toilet and shower blocks.
  Fires were started during the disturbance and one of the accommodation blocks and the administration block were completely gutted.
  Block E is the smallest block and is located along the Eastern boundary, adjacent to the rear of the Courthouse.
  The College has been granted planning permission to develop student housing blocks on their grounds.
  The report concluded that a simple burning rag should not have led to a huge fire that involved the roofs of two separate blocks of the building.
  Synonyms
  building, complex, structure, development
2. 2.2 A group of buildings bounded by four streets.
  she went for a run round the block
  Example sentencesExamples
  I've been up the street, around the block, into the store and home again.
  Global terror is down the street, around the block.
  I drove around the block, swung across the road in what I thought was impeccable style, and was just moving into position by the pavement, when a police car drew up beside me.
  Some drive around the block rather than making a left turn.
  Round the block is Molesworth Street, home to a number of art establishments.
  It was parked at the end of the street and he drove it round the block, intending to park it outside his house, but was stopped on the way.
  The long lines snaked around the block in both directions.
3. 2.3North American Any urban or suburban area bounded by four streets.
  ours was the ugliest house on the block
  Example sentencesExamples
  The family lives on a close-knit block in suburban Chicago.
  Now the former residents are being resettled in distant, high-rise residential blocks.
  On the same block four months later, a construction worker renovating a house made a dreadful discovery.
  As she shoved the note back into her book, the sound of several storm doors could be heard along the block as some of the late kids ran to catch the bus.
  Just down the street from me, for example, there's a block with several boarded-up houses on it.
  On the block where I lived, I remember seeing a young woman hunched over in pain, weeping hysterically.
  The Trust owns about 70 percent of four blocks in that area.
  The houses were arranged in blocks, with four houses to every side of a block.
  Somebody's already started going around my block in an ice cream van - before the daffodils are even certain of themselves yet.
  At the same time in DC, three intimidating looking black guys pulled up in front of a big house on a tree-lined block in a suburban neighborhood.
  One of the residents said the area's council blocks had been transformed since the project started.
  In particular, there is concern over several blocks along Fifth and Forbes Avenues in the center of town.
  This map does not register streets or blocks of houses, but consists of the sheer movements of real people.
  The Marines found that one out of every four city blocks contained a major weapons storage area.
  Regular maintenance of the street ended after three blocks and the area beyond looked rougher.
  There are five different Vinyl Japan stores in the same block, four if you don't count the house/dance music store.
  As a result, he photographed and described street blocks and individual houses.
  Long lines of cars, taxis and buses coiled around city blocks and suburban streets.
4. 2.4North American The length of one side of a block, especially as a measure of distance.
  he lives a few blocks away from the museum
  Example sentencesExamples
  I would never backpack or turn a somersault or jump to the ground from even the most modest height or run the length of half a block.
  At about the same time, a few blocks from Mrs. Rider, a woman and her children awoke and began vomiting.
  They walked up the four blocks to the coffee house.
  In no time at all the said queue stretched the entire length of the block.
  Although the distance to the pool was only about the length of a short block, my feet felt as though they were about to fall off because they were so cold.
  She made her way to the corner store four blocks from her house.
  A vigil every 20 blocks for the whole length of Manhattan.
  It's five blocks to the mall in the opposite direction from the school, four blocks past my house.
  And the water can enter the system from an area three, four blocks, a mile away.
  She sat sullenly the last three blocks, tension mounting within her.
  He had only seen her from a distance, from a block away, but that had been enough, and he was determined never to see her up close.
  Broadway is a few blocks distant but worlds away from the cultural corridor along Grand Avenue.
  A few arrests were made when protesters tried to break through barricades set up within two blocks of the Garden along the march route.
  We walked along the piers seven blocks then up the hill to the Pike Street Market.
  They could hear the noise from the crowd when they were a block away, along with the sounds of the band tuning up.
  I took this photo this morning on a street a couple of blocks from my house.
  Allie's house was only four blocks away so we decided to walk there.
  I'm pretty sure you can obtain all those things within 2 or 3 blocks along Melrose Blvd. in Hollywood.
  Interior hallways run nearly the length of a city block, and could have resembled an endless, generic motel corridor.
  Nora was walking down the street a couple of blocks away from my house.
3A large quantity or allocation of things regarded as a unit.
a block of shares
final examinations will be taken in a block at the end of the course
Example sentencesExamples
- Each subject completed 10 blocks of 10 practice trials.
- The order of presentation of these blocks was completely randomized across participants.
- Each participant completed three blocks of 120 trials, one for each of the difficulty levels.
- Each block or placement is completed in a different facility.
- All subjects completed five blocks of 15 learning trials.
- A block of 55,500 Petrol shares was sold at 14.31 and another 129,500 shares at 14.32.
- The expressions were ordered in a random way rather than in blocks of expressions with the same algebraic structure.
- Braille music uses the same system of raised dots on paper as standard Braille, with the top four dots in a block of six giving the note and the bottom two indicating its duration.
- These items were added as a block to the entire questionnaire.
- If he has completed his initial block, he keeps moving, looking for someone else to hit.
- The surgical suite allocates Dr Jones two eight-hour blocks per week to complete his elective cases.
- You will most likely sleep in two hour blocks at completely random times throughout the day.
- The therapy involves undertaking six-week blocks of different exercises, spread over a year, with the aim of stimulating a part of the brain called the cerebellum.
- These spirals were three and four years long each, so for all intents and purposes they were blocks.
- All of the participants completed both blocks with the order of completion counterbalanced across participants.
Synonyms
batch, group, cluster, set, section, quantity, series
1. 3.1Computing A large piece of text processed as a unit.
  Example sentencesExamples
  Maybe you type the same blocks of text into your email messages thirty times a day.
  Text messaging, which allows blocks of text up to 160 characters long to be sent, has been a huge success with 50 million being sent in Britain alone every day.
  The method is well suited for use in a microprocessor-based modem operating on blocks of data.
  When speaking about hypertext, it refers specifically to blocks of text connected by hyperlinks.
  For example, one informant disliked scrolling to read columns and preferred page-wide blocks of text.
4An obstacle to the normal progress or functioning of something.
substantial demands for time off may constitute a block to career advancement
an emotional block
Example sentencesExamples
- But you put up mental and emotional blocks around your mind.
- It goes to reinforce my jaded view that the media are a block to reasoned public debate, the open society, and education.
- Also, overcoming the obstacle of having these blocks put in the path - they're not willing to settle for less than what they're capable of doing.
- The public system as a whole is seen as a block to that market.
- A high-profile civil case would mean lurid newspaper headlines and act as a block to any possibility of restarting a television career.
- If you break the rules of existence, there's usually a block to progress until you have connected things.
- Indeed, I fear that serial co-habitation could actually be a block to marriage with parties becoming afraid of making the commitment.
- I refuse to believe that the colour of my skin is a block to achieving whatever I want to be.
- It had just become too expensive (and was becoming a block to ‘free’ trade).
- Maybe he has a writing block because he doesn't smoke.
- The result was ‘a writing block which went on for a long time, and I am sure it was because I was afraid to say what I wanted, what mattered to me’.
- Secondly a whole set of conditions have been placed on the developing world, many of which have been seen by campaigners and the nations themselves, as a block to necessary progress.
- The major problem that emerges is voltage leaks, which cause the chip to heat up considerably and ultimately put a block on progress.
- The writing block that plagued him for years has started to lift.
Synonyms
obstacle, obstruction, bar, barrier, impediment, hindrance, check, hurdle, stumbling block
difficulty, problem, snag, disadvantage, complication, drawback, hitch, handicap, deterrent
blockage, obstruction, stoppage, stopping up, clot, occlusion
impediment, hindrance
congestion
1. 4.1 An act of blocking someone or something.
  Marshall's shot drew a fine block from the goalkeeper
  Example sentencesExamples
  As the two fighters once again clashed, their movements became faster and more intense with each block.
  He's a good athlete who has the ability to get downfield and make blocks.
  Wand has long arms, but he doesn't use them to his advantage to gain leverage and maintain blocks.
  A sure-fire way to get beat is to be thinking about the last block rather than focusing on the next.
  There's a flip side, though: One big shot or a great block will inspire this guy like no one else.
  He's not quick enough to defeat blocks in the run game to pursue backside running plays and is a liability in coverage.
  He is smart, quick and agile enough to make blocks downfield, but lacks the initial pop to be an outstanding guard.
  Miss a block and a teammate will be dealt a devastating blow.
  A lot of this is developed on the playground where no real fouls are called and the shooters must alter their shot to avoid a block.
  Lunge, parry, head block… all the movements of sword fighting were familiar to her.
  When it comes to communicating the importance of a movement, a block, a play, or a game, Davis has few equals.
  He is very good in space, whether it's pulling on wide plays or getting a downfield block.
  He was the bulldozer for college football's most punishing running attack, with the pancake block being his trademark.
  Driver caught seven passes for 78 yards and executed several downfield blocks.
  This also limits his ability to make downfield blocks on linebackers.
  Bell is usually the first one downfield on punts, fighting through blocks and disrupting the return.
  Moss, meanwhile, began running out every pattern, even when he was a decoy, and he started throwing blocks downfield.
  Dilger doesn't hesitate to sell out on a block downfield or on the line.
  His exceptional quickness and agility allow him to get downfield and make blocks at the second level of the defense.
  He can pull on running plays and screens and get downfield to throw a block.
2. 4.2 A chock for stopping the motion of a wheel.
  Example sentencesExamples
  Make sure you have a jack that will lift the trailer (with horses inside) or a wheel block to pull one trailer tire onto to get the other one off the ground.
3. 4.3Cricket The spot on which a batsman rests the end of the bat while waiting to receive a ball.
  Example sentencesExamples
  He misses, the ball lands in the block hole, and makes contact with the pads.
  He picked up four late wickets by virtue of keeping the ball up in the blockhole.
  Exactly half of his deliveries were on a good length, and while he banged 18 in short, another 11 were pitched well up in the blockhole.
5A flat area of something, especially a solid area of colour.
cover the eyelid with a neutral block of colour
Example sentencesExamples
- Turquoise with bright color blocks of red and yellow.
- Women don't want a block of colour, especially not black after all this mourning.
- The ink of the fixing agent is subsequently overprinted on the above block of colour in the required image.
- It would look silly to draw the character as is; the background would be drawn too, and the character would be surrounded by a block of solid color.
- This image has four blocks of colour dark green, burgundy, dark blue and light cyan used to adjust the colour settings of a computer monitor.
- The visual system of the tsetse fly is particularly sensitive to large blocks of contrasting color.
1. 5.1Australian, NZ historical An area of land, in particular a tract offered to an individual settler by a government.
  Example sentencesExamples
  His scheme collapsed and he and his family settled on a block of land south west of Clare.
  There were also many blocks of land listed in Adelaide and country towns as well as cattle, sheep and farming implements.
  During 1878 the town of Eurelia was surveyed and the first blocks of land sold on 10 October 1878 for $5. each.
  The preamble talks about how approximately 87,000 acres of confiscated land was divided into blocks.
  That feature is linked to the original development of the irrigation areas with smallholder fruit blocks for soldier settlers and, later, new immigrants.
2. 5.2Australian An urban or suburban building plot.
  Example sentencesExamples
  It had 432 allotments of a quarter acre each and 88 suburban blocks ranging in size from five to eleven acres.
  Those business people have now been subdividing the land, and selling blocks for housing and commercial developments.
  Large blocks of land had not been amalgamated as envisaged.
  If we wander in here, see I suppose this area here is probably only about as big as a couple of suburban blocks of land.
  The business was being used to sell country homes and blocks of land throughout New South Wales.
6A pulley or system of pulleys mounted in a case.
a simple pulley block
Example sentencesExamples
- It is a hoist for lifting appliances, and more specifically a block-and-pulley arrangement, or a block-and-tackle arrangement.
- A block which moves downward is attached to a string which is wrapped around the pulley.
- It was here that he was awarded £17,000 by the government for the patent of his mechanical ships blocks.

verb blɒkblɑk

[with object]

1Make the movement or flow in (a passage, pipe, road, etc.) difficult or impossible.
block up the holes with sticky tape
the narrow roads were blocked by cars
Example sentencesExamples
- As well as blocking the hospital drive there have been problems with cars blocking the road and parking in the driveways of houses.
- A portion of this tube may be causing you difficulty due to narrowing or a growth blocking the passage of food and liquids.
- A waste disposal lorry and a pick-up truck crashed on a narrow bridge, blocking a main road.
- The second trailer remained upright as the truck slid to the wrong side of the road, blocking the highway.
- The truck was greeted at the end of the approach road by a number of tractors which blocked the passage and proceeded slowly along the two mile journey.
- While allowing the bus stops in the road, care must be taken to avoid buses being parked right opposite to each other on busy roads and blocking entire flow of traffic.
- But police radioed ahead and blocked off the narrow road with a police pick-up truck, finally bringing the Toyota to a stop.
- They cannot risk the frequent delivery delays that occur when the motorway is blocked by road works or accidents.
- In those cases, the fuelers usually set up on a major road that was blocked off for fueling operations.
- A truck parked in the middle of the narrow street blocked the road.
- The road was blocked off and the 93 bus couldn't get through, so I caught another one which took me all around the houses, but it was still stuck in traffic.
- ‘The parked cars block the road and leave nowhere for anyone to pull in,’ he said.
- Major roads were blocked off, threatening huge traffic disruption.
- They literally bulldozed aside the police cars blocking the road.
- Emergency services were called and the road was blocked off.
- New Street was blocked off and police diverted traffic onto High Street.
- A group of young men hanging out in the middle of the road blocked her passage.
- We turned right and, sure enough, the road was blocked and the car park boarded off and derelict.
- All the street was blocked off and there were so many people outside.
- She was blocking the road and cars behind her and in front of her were unable to move.
Synonyms
clog (up), stop up, choke, plug, obstruct, gum up, occlude, dam up, congest, jam, close
informal bung up, gunge up
close up, bar, obstruct, shut off, barricade, seal
1. 1.1 Put an obstacle in the way of (something proposed or attempted)
  he stood up, blocking her escape
  the government tried to block an agreement on farm subsidies
  Example sentencesExamples
  First, they block unauthorized attempts to reach and then damage or take control of your system.
  She was overjoyed at this but as she tried to merge with it something powerful blocked her attempts.
  New temporary barriers have been installed to block any other attempts by vehicles to cross the bridge.
  But when injuries are less obvious or workers seem uncooperative, companies often block every attempt to seek benefits.
  Under the ancien régime these two powerful groups had often blocked princely attempts to rationalize and centralize the administration.
  Given they both own more than 25% of shares, either side could block a takeover attempt by the other.
  His replacement as senior consultant blocks an attempt for him to be awarded emeritus status.
  She heard him curse softly and then he shifted his wait, effectively blocking her attempt at freedom.
  Known as ‘the nuclear option’, the Democrats blocked the attempt.
  The company initially tried to block attempts by this newspaper last week to inspect parts of its shareholder register, a public document.
  Government officials, knowing that the findings would likely be negative and fearful that they would leak, blocked the effort.
  The management has consistently refused to grant concessions on economic issues and has worked to block attempts at employee organization.
  The army sent out a force of sixty men to retrieve him but the attempt was blocked and the group was surrounded by the Apaches.
  Opposition Conservative MPs blocked an attempt by the government to fine the companies $250,000 a day for contempt of Parliament.
  Can you blame the Senate blocking his half-baked attempts at policy formulation?
  But this Council finds the idea distasteful and is blocking every attempt to find a suitable location.
  Fortunately I think our firewall had been blocking the access attempts, but the popup ads were still happening.
  Synonyms
  hinder, hamper, obstruct, impede, inhibit, check, arrest, restrict, limit, deter, curb, interrupt
  halt, stop, bar, prevent, thwart, baulk, frustrate, foil, scotch, circumvent, stand in the way of
  informal fetter
2. 1.2 Prevent access to or the use of (email or a website or mobile phone)
  some companies use these IMEI numbers to block stolen phones
  Example sentencesExamples
  Obviously, not all spam filters work that well, but this seems like a really odd choice as a way to block spam.
  It was a matter of blocking the critical political web sites.
  Today, Firefox blocked it to disable a security vulnerability that affects it.
  Thanks for reviewing and no, I don't think your reviews are like hell for me because if I did, I would have already blocked you.
  And in the meantime, I'd have someone hide the medical encyclopaedia and block your access to all medical websites, if at all possible.
  A separate debate over Internet monitoring in Germany broke out last month as federal lawmakers approved legislation to allow websites containing child pornography to be blocked.
  If requested by police it can block telephone numbers to stop someone calling out, including texting.
  The idea of blocking access where someone is using a lot of bandwidth just doesn't work.
  It will not block pop-ups unless users enable the feature.
  However, the list is effective at blocking the most egregious spammers so it should result in a significant reduction in spam.
3. 1.3 Restrict the use or conversion of (currency or any other asset).
  Example sentencesExamples
  In such circumstances, post-merger performance in the relevant market may be no worse than market performance had the merger been blocked and the assets left the market.
  This has been blamed for blocking overseas-bound investment by mainland enterprises.
  Foreign financial institutions are required to block the funds and assets of such groups.
  The U.S. has rallied 120 nations to block assets of suspected terrorist groups.
  Over the weekend, legislators passed a law blocking access for three years to hard currency held in high-interest accounts with the country's two state banks.
  By building up a sizeable stake they will control enough equity in the company to block a compulsory takeover by another bidder.
  In his evidence, he said that if the acquisition was blocked, it would have been a waste of a ‘tremendous amount of time and energy’.
4. 1.4American Football Impede the progress of (a tackler) with one's body.
  Example sentencesExamples
  He suffered the injury when he was blocked low on a screen pass.
  On passes, the offense relies on tight ends to block linebackers and sometimes defensive ends.
  The Giants' only score of the game - a touchdown in the third quarter - came when they blocked one of our punts and recovered it in the endzone.
  Supposedly he managed to retain his agility as he put on weight, which should help him in pulling and getting out to block linebackers.
  The team's backs and tight ends have problems blocking linebackers.
5. 1.5 (in sport) stop (a ball or blow) from finding its mark.
  Knight did well to block Soloman's shot
  Example sentencesExamples
  Boxers need to move quickly in the ring, block or avoid their opponent's blows, get past his guard and then hit with power.
  Of course it's best if you can block another opponent while advancing yourself at the same time.
  He showed her techniques on how to block or attack the opponent.
  There is some skill required, as you want to rearrange the cards in order to block your opponent from gaining points.
  Two shots were blocked but the ball eventually fell to Chambers who slotted it into the far corner.
  He has such explosive leaping ability he can block anyone's shot.
  He brought his stave up and I quickly dropped my left hand, dealing him a one-handed blow on the side off his arm before bringing my own stave up to block his blow.
  He is a very good athlete who can block shots and has a good shooting stroke.
  There are a ton of punch combinations and you'll need to learn the art of blocking as well, since it could mean the difference during a bout in the ring.
  Every single one of his intended blows was blocked and parried, even when the man tripped and fell backwards.
  I don't believe in trying to force a technique that an opponent is blocking - that is just a waste of energy.
  He could block opponents, he could kick, he could pass.
  Synonyms
  parry, stop, defend against, fend off, stave off, turn aside, deflect, hold off, avert, repel, rebuff, repulse, hold/keep at bay
6. 1.6Cricket Stop (a ball) with the bat defensively.
  Example sentencesExamples
  He declined to play attacking shots for the best part of his stay at the crease, not even looking to score, and instead blocked, padded up or left the ball alone.
  He was unable to pierce the field and his method of blocking the ball with soft hands close to the wickets to pinch quick singles just didn't work.
  And with the Aussie bowling around the wicket into the rough, he is content to let the ball hit his front pad and block the over out.
  The difference between him and everyone else was that he would hit a 50-50 ball that anyone else would leave or block, and hit it with immense force.
7. 1.7Bridge Play in such a way that opponents are prevented from establishing (a long suit).
  Example sentencesExamples
  They also block the discard pile for the opponents when discarded.
  Black threes can be discarded, and block the next player from taking the pile.
  Often, however, you cannot take the discard pile because you are blocked by a black three discarded by your right hand opponent.
  A common mistake by beginners is that when your best suit proves to be blocked by the opponent to switch and try each other suit in turn.
2Impress text or a design on (a book cover).
Example sentencesExamples
- Original blue cloth, spine lettered and blocked in gold.
- Original pale green linen, blocked in an orange-red and black pictorial design on the upper cover.
3Shape or reshape (a hat) on a mould.
nobody cleans and blocks old felt hats any more
Example sentencesExamples
- He is well cast and carries the part like a well blocked hat, (though his own hat sometimes got the better of him).
- It's going to need a pretty firm hand to block it to shape.

Phrases

have been around the block (a few times)

informal (of a person) have a lot of experience.
Example sentencesExamples
- We add an element of showbiz that probably comes from my experience of being in bands and having been around the block a few times.
- I am educated and well-bred, but I have been around the block a few times.
- Hey, it's all about experience, really, and he's been around the block a few times.
- You might say Nick has been around the block once or twice when it comes to online culture and community.
- But, these lads have been around the block a few times and, fair play to them, they showed a lot of resolve to bite the bullet and come good.
- Many new breakthrough artists flung into the scene providing steady competition for the bands that have been around the block and back.
- The well-publicised shenanigans of his past prove that he is far from an innocent, but while this man may have been around the block a few times, there remains endearing childlike qualities.
- ‘You don't have the feeling that you have to prove something when you have been around the block a few times,’ he says.
- Though 25 years his junior, Ethel gives off the aura of having been around the block a few times.
- Whatever the reasons, both men ended up sleeping in a strange city and trying to grapple with the expectations of experienced hosts who have been around the block quite a few times.

the new kid on the block

informal A newcomer to a particular place or sphere of activity.
what can the new kid on the block learn from the earlier Democrat's mistakes?
Example sentencesExamples
- With the new kids on the block, cooking is less about the food you eat than the friends you invite around for dinner.
- In more than one sense, they're the new kids on the block - a marketing approach that yields benefits and drawbacks.
- We're the new kids on the block in the central belt, which has brought a surge of interest among potential recruits.
- ‘They are the new kids on the block and could veto this constitution before they even become a member of the union,’ said one diplomat.
- Hearing these thirteen lads sing though, you would have no idea that they're new kids on the block.
- India and China, he says, are the new kids on the block and will outperform the rest of the world because they have whole-heartedly absorbed the new mantra of globalisation.
- Then you have the new kids on the block where one good performance may elevate them to the top of the heap.
- With too many clubs and not enough punters we had an uphill battle to fill a 3000 + capacity venue, especially when we were the new kids on the block.
- Forget, all the new kids on the block, few of them are fit enough to even hand him the microphone on stage.
- But, while the club may be the new kids on the block, they are not wet behind the ears and refuse to take anything for granted or be drawn into rash predictions.
Synonyms
novice, starter, learner, student, pupil, trainee, apprentice, probationer

on the (auction) block

For sale at auction.
the original first manuscript for Ravel's Bolero goes on the block today
Example sentencesExamples
- Competitors try to drive down the price of policies on the auction block with whispers of whiskey-soaked college days and unconfirmed reports of compromising photos.
- The services of the celebrity painter commanded two winning bids of $25,000 to top a series of unique experiences offered on the auction block.
- And it likely would go on the auction block again.
- The studio is placing props from the film on the block at their online auction house.
- It would put the presidency right back on the auction block.
- At the same time, some of his designs are on the block at an auction in Chicago.
- Some owners have a habit of running in with their unpaid taxes paid up minutes before their property goes on the block.
- According to the local paper, the company headquarters - built in 2003 for $12 million - is up on the auction block.

put (or lay) one's head (or neck) on the block

informal Put one's standing or reputation at risk by proceeding with a particular course of action.
it's not in your nature to put your head on the block
Example sentencesExamples
- And some people can get a little bit nervous about that because they think they're walking the long mile to put their head on the block, which is wrong.
- One thing about the previous commissioner is that he was not afraid to put his neck on the block and say what he believed.
- I've already put my neck on the block and said there is plenty of fish to be had.
- But I'd have to to be totally sure that I was on to a winner before putting my head on the block - watched by half the world.
- Councillors often have to make difficult decisions, often putting their head on the block.
- If it's not, I will be putting my head on the block again.
- ‘I know what I'm talking about because I've been there, so I don't mind putting my neck on the block, ‘he says.’
- ‘You can't be the scapegoat if you decide yourself to put your head on the block,’ he said.
- It's a very special boss who puts his head on the block for anyone.
- I don't want to put my head on the block and say that we will win.

Phrasal Verbs

block something in

1Paint something with solid areas of colour.
the sunflowers are blocked in with yellow
Example sentencesExamples
- I blocked in my background colour with a nice aqua green.
- It starts with a ‘poster study’ of blocked-in areas of color
- When you look at her pastels there seems to be a painterly quality almost completely lacking from her earlier paintings which are either coloured sketches or blocked in areas of flat colour.
Synonyms
darken, colour in, pencil in, block in, fill in
1. 1.1Add something in a unit.
  it's a good idea to block in regular periods of exercise
  Example sentencesExamples
  She now starts every week by blocking in time for. these priorities first, no matter how busy she feels.
  It is strongly recommended that trainees be prepared to block in a 24-week period and make the training a top priority in order to receive maximum benefit from the training.
  Within your schedule, dont forget to block in time for meals and rest.
2. 1.2Mark something out roughly.
  I often start with no preliminary line but go straight in, blocking in the face and body
  Example sentencesExamples
  I've learned it's best to roughly block everything in first so you can see where everything is going as a whole.
  I start off by blocking in large shapes, value, and color.
  Synonyms
  outline, trace, draw the lines of, draw, sketch, block in, mark, mark off, mark out, delimit, mark the boundaries of, mark the limits of
2Park one's car in such a way as to prevent another car from moving away.
he blocked in Vera's Mini
Example sentencesExamples
- If you are parking your caravan up for the winter, block it in with other vehicles or park it in such a way that thieves will not be able to tow it away easily.
- However, as there is such pressure on parking here, many use our car park without permission with the consequence that funerals and weddings can be blocked in.
- Eastwood Park has an entrance at the end of Park Avenue and cars have been parking along the small road, obstructing access and blocking residents in.
- Hence they have no hesitation in parking across another car thereby blocking it in, because ‘They will just be a minute.’
- Their vehicle was rammed by one of the jeeps, despite the fact it was blocked in by another media vehicle and unable to move.
- They stopped a vehicle in the 20600-block of 48th Street, blocking it in.
- Once the singer had parked her car in a garage the show's team leapt into action blocking her car in with one of their own.
- They are a remarkably cheery bunch, even when their wagons are blocked in back lanes by stupidly parked cars, causing them to reverse for 50 yards or more with barely an inch on either side.
- I would ask drivers how they would feel if they were prevented from going to work, doing their shopping or visiting friends by cars parked across their drive or blocking their car in the street.
- When they blocked the car in, they discovered that there was indeed a driver, but he couldn't see very well over the dashboard, as he was only 8 years old.

block something out

1Stop something such as light or noise from reaching somewhere.
you're blocking out my sun
Example sentencesExamples
- We stopped at 3am, when the cloud cover finally blocked them out.
- I usually just block such noises out because in the city there's always some lunatic running around shouting things but for some reason I ran to the cry for help.
- Dr Brown said: ‘The sun appears so small from that distance that you could completely block it out with the head of a pin.’
- According to this watch it's only 2:17 pm but there's almost no natural light whatsoever; the sun is blocked out completely by low-hung clouds of industrial smog.
- Tony is talking, while Davy is trying to block the noise out with his pillow.
- I have always been really aware of fires and I knew to shut the door to block the fire out.
- I keep trying to block his voice out of my head, but I can't stop it all the time.
- I groaned, grabbing my pillow and placing it over my ears, blocking all noise out.
- The house is going to block the sunlight out of our south facing gardens.
Synonyms
conceal, hide, screen, keep out, blot out, exclude
1. 1.1Exclude something unpleasant from one's thoughts or memory.
  they had managed to block out incidents from long ago
  Example sentencesExamples
  Eventually though he managed to block them out and catch some much needed sleep.
  Maybe we're just blocking it out like a bad memory or premonition.
  I sighed, wondering why I had chosen to block the memories out in the first place.
  He tried to block those memories out, but he couldn't in his nearly unconscious state.
  Eva bit her lip and tried to block it out of her memory, but it was no use.
  They could wind up so traumatized by their actions that blocking the incident out could be their only option.
  Synonyms
  conceal, hide, screen, keep out, blot out, exclude
2Mark or sketch something out roughly.
I would block out an area and sketch in the detail
Example sentencesExamples
- I write it down on my steno pad when the idea comes to me, and more or less block it out on paper first.
- I designed it by blocking it out on a ‘clean sheet’ using an architect's program.
- Sometimes, I'll start right on the computer and then have to slow down and block things out on paper to sort things out.
- The image is first blocked out and then carved away to create very beautiful and amazing designs and patterns.
Synonyms
rough, rough out, sketch out, trace out, outline, set out, lay out, delineate, draft

Origin

Middle English (denoting a log or tree stump): from Old French bloc (noun), bloquer (verb), from Middle Dutch blok, of unknown ultimate origin.

In the early Middle Ages a block was a log or tree stump. The word came from French bloc, which English readopted in a different sense as bloc, ‘a group of countries that have formed an alliance’, in the early 20th century. By the late Middle Ages a block was often a large lump of wood on which chopping, hammering, and beheading were performed. We refer to an executioner's block when we use the phrase to put your head (or neck) on the block.
A block of buildings, bounded by four streets, dates from the late 18th century in North America. This use has given rise to numerous popular phrases: the new kid on the block, and the person believed to have been around the block a few times (to have a lot of experience). It also gave us the blockbuster. Although this now means ‘a great commercial success’, in the 1940s it was a huge aerial bomb capable of destroying a whole block of streets.
Block has meant head, as in to knock someone's block off, since the 17th century. In Australia. to do or lose your block is to lose your temper. See also loggerhead

Rhymes

ad hoc, amok, Bangkok, baroque, belle époque, bloc, bock, brock, chock, chock-a-block, clock, doc, dock, floc, flock, frock, hock, hough, interlock, jock, knock, langue d'oc, lock, Locke, Médoc, mock, nock, o'clock, pock, post hoc, roc, rock, schlock, shock, smock, sock, Spock, stock, wok, yapok

Definition of block in US English:

block

nounblɑkbläk

1A large solid piece of hard material, especially rock, stone, or wood, typically with flat surfaces on each side.
a block of marble
Example sentencesExamples
- Now it resembled a low fortress wall with blocks of stone evenly cut and dressed, and white lines to guide devotees on moonless nights.
- It was like we were sitting on opposite sides of a block of marble.
- The strapping is used for a wide range of materials such as bricks, blocks, briquettes and tiles.
- There, as it had been during his initial inspection, was a stone block wall just as solid as any other in the castle.
- Its walls are made of solid stone blocks weighing over sixty tons each.
- All the features, including stone blocks, wooden and steel doors and even the ironmongery, were hand-carved by the company's craft experts.
- In their traditional form, glass blocks are set like bricks or concrete blocks - one block at a time in slow, carefully constructed rows.
- These huge, isolated blocks of rock look as though they should not be there.
- The surface of gravel or blocks set on stone provides another permeable layer.
- One of the beds is even held up by a stack of wooden blocks!
- The upper guide had a steel roller at the back of the saw with hard maple side blocks.
- This guy has built various mathematical surfaces from lego blocks and some of them look amazingly intricate.
- You're going to need a paved surface, concrete blocks, Tarmac even, so the delivery vehicles can get to the shops by the river.
- It is unfashionable to say so, but there is something powerfully evocative about this block of stone.
- Other materials for terraces include bricks, rocks, concrete blocks, and similar masonry materials.
- It is hoped to build a block wall faced with stone as soon as possible.
- We waited two more months, saving enough to purchase 1,500 concrete blocks for the basement walls.
- Common building materials are concrete blocks and bricks.
- Alex indicated a small, wooden block embedded in the stone floor.
- An Incan wall of irregular stone blocks, fitted together so precisely that even after centuries of earthquakes it is not possible to fit a piece of paper between the joints.
Synonyms
chunk, hunk, brick, slab, lump, piece
1. 1.1 A sturdy, flat-topped block used as a work surface, typically for chopping food.
  Example sentencesExamples
  She took out a large knife from the cutting block and sliced a piece of cheese, promptly eating one.
  Extracting a block of wood and a knife he held it up to her from his seat on the floor.
2. 1.2British A set of sheets of paper glued along one edge, used for drawing or writing on.
  a sketching block
  Example sentencesExamples
  if you want to make good watercolor sketches, pick up a block of watercolor paper in some portable size.
  The blocks of paper demolished the wall that was being repaired by builder David Gott after they were flung from the vehicle on the sharp corner bend approaching Keighley Road from Colne.
  A large conference table and whiteboard occupied one side of the room; the other side was filled with desks, notebooks and drawing blocks.
  And her eye falls on a ball-point pen, which is innocently lying on top of a block of squared paper.
  I had my notes, a block of standard A4 lined refill paper for my essays and a sketchbook for art.
  Synonyms
  pad, notebook, jotter, tablet, sketchbook, scratch pad
3. 1.3usually blocks Any of a set of solid cubes used as a child's toy.
4. 1.4usually blocks A starting block.
  the thrust a sprinter gets when coming out of the blocks
  Example sentencesExamples
  So, as the women mounted the blocks for the start of the 50 meter free final, there was a certain amount of tension in the air.
  Galway were out of the blocks quicker in the second half.
  In every game, the pattern has been the same: The starting lineup gets out of the blocks well and quickly assumes a double-digit lead.
  As Maggie eases him over the stern of the catamaran, his flippers feel water - and suddenly he's out of the blocks like an Olympic sprinter.
  I'm trying to focus and not to false start, fall at the line or basically walk instead of run out of the blocks as I sometimes do because any of these things could happen.
  It was the perfect way to shrug of the frustrations of the 100m, where he was sluggish out of the blocks, but more particularly the long jump which followed the sprint.
  Less and less are we seeing these gleaming muscular models that step into the blocks looking more like bodybuilders than runners, particularly the women!
  As she blasted out of the blocks in the 400 metres in the European Championships last week, it looked like she might make qualification.
  She blasted out of the blocks and immediately established her dominance over the other runners.
  The timers backed away as she stepped up to the block, for they knew Sally was now focused on the swimmers and the clock.
  He will now step up to the blocks to swim the 200, together with the 400 and 1500 free in the forthcoming games.
  If our athletes feel disillusioned from the outset how on earth are they going to beat their peers when they step up to the blocks at the Olympics?
  Starting at the 10th hole on the final day, he shot out of the blocks, birdying the 11th and 12th.
  So he mounted the blocks in his resplendent blue trunks and did a massive belly flop on the starters gun.
  In 1984 at the Olympic Games, I was no better than fifth when I stepped on the blocks.
  The excitement was almost palpable as Michael stepped on the blocks on Day One for his first race, the 200 meter individual medley.
  We were slow out of the blocks against Italy but we expected a difficult game anyway in Rome.
  Ireland were quicker out of the blocks, and they put immediate pressure on Scotland with two attacking moves in quick succession from penalty-created lineouts.
  Mayo roared out of the blocks and built up a commanding lead.
  The sprinters get out of the blocks in the 100m as Oxford produce a superb overall team performance in the FEAR competition against Cambridge
5. 1.5Printing A piece of wood or metal engraved for printing on paper or fabric.
  Example sentencesExamples
  He has a predilection for wallpaper and wrapping paper, to which he applies repetitive motifs using stamps made from cut and engraved blocks of wood dipped in printer's ink or paint.
  For multi-color printing several blocks had to be carved - one for each color.
  The goal is to provide practical experience about block printing and registration of blocks.
  The printing blocks are made of wood, metal and other materials.
  The artist could carve an image onto wooden or metal blocks, ink the block and impress it on paper.
6. 1.6 The main body of an internal combustion engine, containing the pistons.
  Example sentencesExamples
  Your engine block could freeze in the subzero winter temperatures - which seem to last from September to mid-June.
  The engine block and cylinder head are made of cast aluminium.
  Water doesn't compress and the piston in effect hits a wall, bending or breaking a con rod and possibly shattering the engine block.
  Pistons for internal combustion engines are hard anodized to minimize the amount of thermal expansion in relation to possible thermal expansion of the engine block.
  In addition, there is room above the crank to isolate the camshaft in a cast tubular chamber - making the cylinder block stiffer.
  To fully inspect for damage, all components above the cylinder block were removed except for six of the 16 cylinder heads, one of the two charge air coolers and the engine controls.
  A few chunks of twisted metal will identify the delivery vehicles, especially if the bombers forgot to file off serial numbers on the engine block.
  The impact was so intense that it cracked the engine block, ripped the seat bolts out of the floor board, caused the top of the car to cave in, and knocked both of my shoes off.
  The cylinder block has cast-in iron liners, and a one-piece aluminum crankshaft carrier with ferrous-carbon bearing cap inserts.
  Cables, gantries and all manner of unrecognisable machinery hamper navigation, although as time passes an exposed engine block allows me to make a bit more sense of the scene.
  In addition there is a danger that freezing of water and the consequent expansion might even crack the radiator or the engine block.
  Descending the reef again, I came across the engine block and crankshaft.
  These are bolted to the engine block and sealed with the aforementioned head gasket.
  There was an expensive shriek of metal being crushed and the steam roller rose almost a full eight inches before the engine block shattered.
  It doesn't, however, have an aluminum engine block.
  Another was scraping resin off the engine block, to find some sort of identifying numbers.
  You need a piston, a manifold, then you need an engine block, a carburetor, a distributer, this that and the other thing.
  Meanwhile, he says it may be possible to introduce a common cylinder block for gasoline and diesel engines within five years.
  For example, an automobile engine block is normally cast iron except for some which might be cast aluminum.
  These include a raised capacity, new cylinder block, pistons and crankshaft.
7. 1.7 A head-shaped mold used for shaping hats or wigs.
2British A large single building subdivided into separate rooms, apartments, or offices.
an apartment block
Example sentencesExamples
- There must be some residential development in the area but we don't want blocks of flats or offices.
- Proposals to turn part of the existing building into flats and to build two blocks of two-storey flats have caused surprise and raised questions about where any revenue from the flats would go.
- Nests have been known on railway bridges only a few feet below the tracks, in buildings near office blocks and on balconies of blocks of flats
- In contrast, most British residential blocks of flats were built by local authorities in the 1950s - 70s.
- The library building will be ripped down and replaced with a block of 29 sheltered accommodation flats and a new ground floor library.
- A five-storey block incorporating offices and flats will now go ahead following the decision by councillors last week.
- Members ignored officers' advice and said two three-storey blocks of flats would have an adverse impact on neighbouring homes through overdevelopment.
- Whether you opt for a single flat or whole block, though, choosing where to buy can require some careful research.
- The third phase will involve the demolition of three accommodation blocks to make room for two new ones.
- The church still stands, now surrounded by office buildings and blocks of flats, and looking rather small among its neighbours.
- I was disturbed that 2 office blocks and a block of flats have sprung up on what were empty spaces in a nearby town since I last went past a month ago.
- But now there are plans to knock down the 1960s building and put three blocks of flats in its place.
- Sportsmen and women will be accommodated mainly two to a room in 32 blocks in six student halls of residence.
- The scheme, which includes terraced homes and three-storey blocks of flats, has already been given permission in principle.
- We now have a ‘box’ (actually bag) recycling scheme in our block for textiles, paper, cardboard, glass and tins.
- There would be 182 one and two-bedroom flats separated into three four-storey blocks on the site.
- Terraces and higher blocks of residential with offices on lower storeys, with 10 acre park on podium.
- Now the firm has drawn up a new scheme for two seven-storey blocks of flats and a three-storey shopping and office complex.
- The apartments will be in two blocks separated by a newly - created close, continuing the use of The Old Fish Market Close.
- On the north, the block contains a wooden staircase to the gallery and terrace, and bath- and shower-rooms.
Synonyms
building, complex, structure, development
1. 2.1with modifier A building or part of a complex used for a particular purpose.
  a cell block
  Example sentencesExamples
  The fire started in a manure heap on their farm, engulfed a trailer and looked set to spread along the stable block.
  It was not just a pure fun programme mind you, but the proceeds of this show will go for building of a sanitary block for the school.
  They walked inside the front entrance together and then went their separate ways to form rooms about two school blocks apart.
  But the school burned down and many classrooms and hostel blocks were completely destroyed.
  A new roof and heating system are among the priorities, as are upgraded toilet and shower blocks.
  They all have static caravans, some with their own showers - and if not, there are shower blocks.
  Meters have been re-connected in shower blocks.
  The blaze wrecked the school's offices, staff room, medical room and toilet block.
  The report concluded that a simple burning rag should not have led to a huge fire that involved the roofs of two separate blocks of the building.
  Fires were started during the disturbance and one of the accommodation blocks and the administration block were completely gutted.
  Block E is the smallest block and is located along the Eastern boundary, adjacent to the rear of the Courthouse.
  A women's centre and an urban prayer garden complete the Cathedral block.
  A new roof and boilers are needed, along with new toilet and shower blocks.
  The completion of the science block is not the end of developments at the School.
  There was a shower block for which you had to queue.
  The College has been granted planning permission to develop student housing blocks on their grounds.
  And then the area surrounding that, right from the edge of the stable block into the Botanic Gardens, has now been created into a very large roof space.
  Synonyms
  building, complex, structure, development
2. 2.2North American The area bounded by four streets in a town or suburb.
  ours was the ugliest house on the block
  she went for a run around the block
  Example sentencesExamples
  One of the residents said the area's council blocks had been transformed since the project started.
  The Marines found that one out of every four city blocks contained a major weapons storage area.
  Regular maintenance of the street ended after three blocks and the area beyond looked rougher.
  This map does not register streets or blocks of houses, but consists of the sheer movements of real people.
  The family lives on a close-knit block in suburban Chicago.
  Now the former residents are being resettled in distant, high-rise residential blocks.
  Somebody's already started going around my block in an ice cream van - before the daffodils are even certain of themselves yet.
  Long lines of cars, taxis and buses coiled around city blocks and suburban streets.
  In particular, there is concern over several blocks along Fifth and Forbes Avenues in the center of town.
  There are five different Vinyl Japan stores in the same block, four if you don't count the house/dance music store.
  On the block where I lived, I remember seeing a young woman hunched over in pain, weeping hysterically.
  At the same time in DC, three intimidating looking black guys pulled up in front of a big house on a tree-lined block in a suburban neighborhood.
  The houses were arranged in blocks, with four houses to every side of a block.
  Just down the street from me, for example, there's a block with several boarded-up houses on it.
  As a result, he photographed and described street blocks and individual houses.
  As she shoved the note back into her book, the sound of several storm doors could be heard along the block as some of the late kids ran to catch the bus.
  The Trust owns about 70 percent of four blocks in that area.
  On the same block four months later, a construction worker renovating a house made a dreadful discovery.
3. 2.3North American The length of one side of a town block, typically as a measure of distance.
  he lives a few blocks away from the museum
  Example sentencesExamples
  And the water can enter the system from an area three, four blocks, a mile away.
  It's five blocks to the mall in the opposite direction from the school, four blocks past my house.
  Broadway is a few blocks distant but worlds away from the cultural corridor along Grand Avenue.
  I'm pretty sure you can obtain all those things within 2 or 3 blocks along Melrose Blvd. in Hollywood.
  They could hear the noise from the crowd when they were a block away, along with the sounds of the band tuning up.
  She sat sullenly the last three blocks, tension mounting within her.
  Allie's house was only four blocks away so we decided to walk there.
  A vigil every 20 blocks for the whole length of Manhattan.
  Although the distance to the pool was only about the length of a short block, my feet felt as though they were about to fall off because they were so cold.
  A few arrests were made when protesters tried to break through barricades set up within two blocks of the Garden along the march route.
  We walked along the piers seven blocks then up the hill to the Pike Street Market.
  They walked up the four blocks to the coffee house.
  Interior hallways run nearly the length of a city block, and could have resembled an endless, generic motel corridor.
  In no time at all the said queue stretched the entire length of the block.
  I would never backpack or turn a somersault or jump to the ground from even the most modest height or run the length of half a block.
  Nora was walking down the street a couple of blocks away from my house.
  At about the same time, a few blocks from Mrs. Rider, a woman and her children awoke and began vomiting.
  She made her way to the corner store four blocks from her house.
  He had only seen her from a distance, from a block away, but that had been enough, and he was determined never to see her up close.
  I took this photo this morning on a street a couple of blocks from my house.
3A large quantity or allocation of things regarded as a unit.
a block of shares
as modifier block grants
Example sentencesExamples
- You will most likely sleep in two hour blocks at completely random times throughout the day.
- The therapy involves undertaking six-week blocks of different exercises, spread over a year, with the aim of stimulating a part of the brain called the cerebellum.
- A block of 55,500 Petrol shares was sold at 14.31 and another 129,500 shares at 14.32.
- If he has completed his initial block, he keeps moving, looking for someone else to hit.
- The surgical suite allocates Dr Jones two eight-hour blocks per week to complete his elective cases.
- These spirals were three and four years long each, so for all intents and purposes they were blocks.
- These items were added as a block to the entire questionnaire.
- The expressions were ordered in a random way rather than in blocks of expressions with the same algebraic structure.
- Braille music uses the same system of raised dots on paper as standard Braille, with the top four dots in a block of six giving the note and the bottom two indicating its duration.
- All subjects completed five blocks of 15 learning trials.
- Each participant completed three blocks of 120 trials, one for each of the difficulty levels.
- Each block or placement is completed in a different facility.
- All of the participants completed both blocks with the order of completion counterbalanced across participants.
- Each subject completed 10 blocks of 10 practice trials.
- The order of presentation of these blocks was completely randomized across participants.
Synonyms
batch, group, cluster, set, section, quantity, series
1. 3.1Computing A large piece of text processed as a unit.
  Example sentencesExamples
  The method is well suited for use in a microprocessor-based modem operating on blocks of data.
  Text messaging, which allows blocks of text up to 160 characters long to be sent, has been a huge success with 50 million being sent in Britain alone every day.
  When speaking about hypertext, it refers specifically to blocks of text connected by hyperlinks.
  Maybe you type the same blocks of text into your email messages thirty times a day.
  For example, one informant disliked scrolling to read columns and preferred page-wide blocks of text.
2. 3.2 An unseparated unit of at least four postage stamps in at least two rows, generally a group of four.
  Example sentencesExamples
  Blocks of stamps from the edges of the original sheet or pane often include sections of the sheet's margin, which may have a wide variety of information.
  I would like to give you a little more information about the block of stamps I have up for sale.
  A beautiful new block of four U.S. stamps pays tribute to an amazing founding father in his roles as Statesman, Scientist, Printer and Postmaster.
4An obstacle to the normal progress or functioning of something.
substantial demands for time off may constitute a block to career advancement
an emotional block
Example sentencesExamples
- It had just become too expensive (and was becoming a block to ‘free’ trade).
- The writing block that plagued him for years has started to lift.
- Indeed, I fear that serial co-habitation could actually be a block to marriage with parties becoming afraid of making the commitment.
- If you break the rules of existence, there's usually a block to progress until you have connected things.
- A high-profile civil case would mean lurid newspaper headlines and act as a block to any possibility of restarting a television career.
- Also, overcoming the obstacle of having these blocks put in the path - they're not willing to settle for less than what they're capable of doing.
- But you put up mental and emotional blocks around your mind.
- The result was ‘a writing block which went on for a long time, and I am sure it was because I was afraid to say what I wanted, what mattered to me’.
- Maybe he has a writing block because he doesn't smoke.
- The major problem that emerges is voltage leaks, which cause the chip to heat up considerably and ultimately put a block on progress.
- It goes to reinforce my jaded view that the media are a block to reasoned public debate, the open society, and education.
- Secondly a whole set of conditions have been placed on the developing world, many of which have been seen by campaigners and the nations themselves, as a block to necessary progress.
- I refuse to believe that the colour of my skin is a block to achieving whatever I want to be.
- The public system as a whole is seen as a block to that market.
Synonyms
obstacle, obstruction, bar, barrier, impediment, hindrance, check, hurdle, stumbling block
blockage, obstruction, stoppage, stopping up, clot, occlusion
1. 4.1 (in sports) a hindering or stopping of an opponent's movement or action.
  Example sentencesExamples
  A lot of this is developed on the playground where no real fouls are called and the shooters must alter their shot to avoid a block.
  Lunge, parry, head block… all the movements of sword fighting were familiar to her.
  He was the bulldozer for college football's most punishing running attack, with the pancake block being his trademark.
  When it comes to communicating the importance of a movement, a block, a play, or a game, Davis has few equals.
  Bell is usually the first one downfield on punts, fighting through blocks and disrupting the return.
  This also limits his ability to make downfield blocks on linebackers.
  Driver caught seven passes for 78 yards and executed several downfield blocks.
  Dilger doesn't hesitate to sell out on a block downfield or on the line.
  A sure-fire way to get beat is to be thinking about the last block rather than focusing on the next.
  He's not quick enough to defeat blocks in the run game to pursue backside running plays and is a liability in coverage.
  He is very good in space, whether it's pulling on wide plays or getting a downfield block.
  Moss, meanwhile, began running out every pattern, even when he was a decoy, and he started throwing blocks downfield.
  He can pull on running plays and screens and get downfield to throw a block.
  Wand has long arms, but he doesn't use them to his advantage to gain leverage and maintain blocks.
  As the two fighters once again clashed, their movements became faster and more intense with each block.
  His exceptional quickness and agility allow him to get downfield and make blocks at the second level of the defense.
  Miss a block and a teammate will be dealt a devastating blow.
  He is smart, quick and agile enough to make blocks downfield, but lacks the initial pop to be an outstanding guard.
  There's a flip side, though: One big shot or a great block will inspire this guy like no one else.
  He's a good athlete who has the ability to get downfield and make blocks.
2. 4.2Tennis A shot in which the racket is held stationary rather than being swung back, especially a stop volley.
  Example sentencesExamples
  Young players are infatuated with rejecting a shot with a block, and they pay for it continuously.
  There is no swing, but a block from the shoulder without follow-through.
3. 4.3 A chock for stopping the motion of a wheel.
  Example sentencesExamples
  Make sure you have a jack that will lift the trailer (with horses inside) or a wheel block to pull one trailer tire onto to get the other one off the ground.
5A flat area of something, especially a solid area of color.
cover the eyelid with a neutral block of color
Example sentencesExamples
- Turquoise with bright color blocks of red and yellow.
- Women don't want a block of colour, especially not black after all this mourning.
- It would look silly to draw the character as is; the background would be drawn too, and the character would be surrounded by a block of solid color.
- The ink of the fixing agent is subsequently overprinted on the above block of colour in the required image.
- This image has four blocks of colour dark green, burgundy, dark blue and light cyan used to adjust the colour settings of a computer monitor.
- The visual system of the tsetse fly is particularly sensitive to large blocks of contrasting color.
6A pulley or system of pulleys mounted in a case.
Example sentencesExamples
- A block which moves downward is attached to a string which is wrapped around the pulley.
- It is a hoist for lifting appliances, and more specifically a block-and-pulley arrangement, or a block-and-tackle arrangement.
- It was here that he was awarded £17,000 by the government for the patent of his mechanical ships blocks.
7informal A person's head.
“I'll knock your block off,” he said
Example sentencesExamples
- He paid out a large sum of money to a number of his creditors because they had threatened to ‘knock his block off’ if he did not pay them.
- Which sides will win and which will get their blocks knocked off?
- That's where they get their blocks knocked off.

verbblɑkbläk

[with object]

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
Example sentencesExamples
- In those cases, the fuelers usually set up on a major road that was blocked off for fueling operations.
- Major roads were blocked off, threatening huge traffic disruption.
- But police radioed ahead and blocked off the narrow road with a police pick-up truck, finally bringing the Toyota to a stop.
- New Street was blocked off and police diverted traffic onto High Street.
- A portion of this tube may be causing you difficulty due to narrowing or a growth blocking the passage of food and liquids.
- We turned right and, sure enough, the road was blocked and the car park boarded off and derelict.
- The second trailer remained upright as the truck slid to the wrong side of the road, blocking the highway.
- A truck parked in the middle of the narrow street blocked the road.
- Emergency services were called and the road was blocked off.
- The road was blocked off and the 93 bus couldn't get through, so I caught another one which took me all around the houses, but it was still stuck in traffic.
- While allowing the bus stops in the road, care must be taken to avoid buses being parked right opposite to each other on busy roads and blocking entire flow of traffic.
- All the street was blocked off and there were so many people outside.
- A waste disposal lorry and a pick-up truck crashed on a narrow bridge, blocking a main road.
- She was blocking the road and cars behind her and in front of her were unable to move.
- ‘The parked cars block the road and leave nowhere for anyone to pull in,’ he said.
- As well as blocking the hospital drive there have been problems with cars blocking the road and parking in the driveways of houses.
- A group of young men hanging out in the middle of the road blocked her passage.
- They cannot risk the frequent delivery delays that occur when the motorway is blocked by road works or accidents.
- They literally bulldozed aside the police cars blocking the road.
- The truck was greeted at the end of the approach road by a number of tractors which blocked the passage and proceeded slowly along the two mile journey.
Synonyms
clog, clog up, stop up, choke, plug, obstruct, gum up, occlude, dam up, congest, jam, close
close up, bar, obstruct, shut off, barricade, seal
1. 1.1 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
  Example sentencesExamples
  Under the ancien régime these two powerful groups had often blocked princely attempts to rationalize and centralize the administration.
  New temporary barriers have been installed to block any other attempts by vehicles to cross the bridge.
  The management has consistently refused to grant concessions on economic issues and has worked to block attempts at employee organization.
  Government officials, knowing that the findings would likely be negative and fearful that they would leak, blocked the effort.
  Opposition Conservative MPs blocked an attempt by the government to fine the companies $250,000 a day for contempt of Parliament.
  But this Council finds the idea distasteful and is blocking every attempt to find a suitable location.
  Known as ‘the nuclear option’, the Democrats blocked the attempt.
  His replacement as senior consultant blocks an attempt for him to be awarded emeritus status.
  Can you blame the Senate blocking his half-baked attempts at policy formulation?
  The company initially tried to block attempts by this newspaper last week to inspect parts of its shareholder register, a public document.
  Given they both own more than 25% of shares, either side could block a takeover attempt by the other.
  But when injuries are less obvious or workers seem uncooperative, companies often block every attempt to seek benefits.
  Fortunately I think our firewall had been blocking the access attempts, but the popup ads were still happening.
  She was overjoyed at this but as she tried to merge with it something powerful blocked her attempts.
  The army sent out a force of sixty men to retrieve him but the attempt was blocked and the group was surrounded by the Apaches.
  First, they block unauthorized attempts to reach and then damage or take control of your system.
  She heard him curse softly and then he shifted his wait, effectively blocking her attempt at freedom.
  Synonyms
  hinder, hamper, obstruct, impede, inhibit, check, arrest, restrict, limit, deter, curb, interrupt
2. 1.2 Restrict the use or conversion of (currency or any other asset).
  Example sentencesExamples
  The U.S. has rallied 120 nations to block assets of suspected terrorist groups.
  Over the weekend, legislators passed a law blocking access for three years to hard currency held in high-interest accounts with the country's two state banks.
  By building up a sizeable stake they will control enough equity in the company to block a compulsory takeover by another bidder.
  In his evidence, he said that if the acquisition was blocked, it would have been a waste of a ‘tremendous amount of time and energy’.
  This has been blamed for blocking overseas-bound investment by mainland enterprises.
  Foreign financial institutions are required to block the funds and assets of such groups.
  In such circumstances, post-merger performance in the relevant market may be no worse than market performance had the merger been blocked and the assets left the market.
3. 1.3 (in sports) hinder or stop the movement or action of (an opponent, a ball, etc.).
  Example sentencesExamples
  He has such explosive leaping ability he can block anyone's shot.
  Every single one of his intended blows was blocked and parried, even when the man tripped and fell backwards.
  There is some skill required, as you want to rearrange the cards in order to block your opponent from gaining points.
  He could block opponents, he could kick, he could pass.
  Boxers need to move quickly in the ring, block or avoid their opponent's blows, get past his guard and then hit with power.
  I don't believe in trying to force a technique that an opponent is blocking - that is just a waste of energy.
  Two shots were blocked but the ball eventually fell to Chambers who slotted it into the far corner.
  He is a very good athlete who can block shots and has a good shooting stroke.
  There are a ton of punch combinations and you'll need to learn the art of blocking as well, since it could mean the difference during a bout in the ring.
  He brought his stave up and I quickly dropped my left hand, dealing him a one-handed blow on the side off his arm before bringing my own stave up to block his blow.
  Of course it's best if you can block another opponent while advancing yourself at the same time.
  He showed her techniques on how to block or attack the opponent.
  Synonyms
  parry, stop, defend against, fend off, stave off, turn aside, deflect, hold off, avert, repel, rebuff, repulse, hold at bay, keep at bay
4. 1.4Bridge Play in such a way that an opponent cannot establish (a long suit).
  Example sentencesExamples
  They also block the discard pile for the opponents when discarded.
  A common mistake by beginners is that when your best suit proves to be blocked by the opponent to switch and try each other suit in turn.
  Often, however, you cannot take the discard pile because you are blocked by a black three discarded by your right hand opponent.
  Black threes can be discarded, and block the next player from taking the pile.
5. 1.5Medicine Produce insensibility in (a part of the body) by injecting an anesthetic close to the nerves that supply it.
  Example sentencesExamples
  Genistein, found in soybeans, has the ability to literally starve tumors to death by blocking their blood supply.
  Pinching the skin stimulates local sensory nerves, partially blocking the transmission of other painful stimuli.
  The gene would still be there, but the drug blocks the body from turning on the disease process.
  Local anesthetic agents block pain transmission by interfering with nerve cell depolarization of peripheral pain fibers.
  This is a condition in which the optic nerve sustains damage because its blood supply is blocked.
2Impress text or a design on (a book cover).
Example sentencesExamples
- Original blue cloth, spine lettered and blocked in gold.
- Original pale green linen, blocked in an orange-red and black pictorial design on the upper cover.
3Shape or reshape (a hat) using a wooden mold.
Example sentencesExamples
- He is well cast and carries the part like a well blocked hat, (though his own hat sometimes got the better of him).
- It's going to need a pretty firm hand to block it to shape.
4Design or plan the movements of actors on a stage or movie set.
Example sentencesExamples
- Stylistically, the writing takes some mature risks, and both actresses are uninhibited and bold enough to carry those words through some playful blocking.
- Konarak strums his guitar before a shamiana where the actors block their moves, test their lines.
- The stage version clearly needs blocking as there is a limited space on which to do the entire show.
- But, in stage blocking, you have to remember where you are for the entire three hours that the show runs.
- He has added a rehearsal studio to his home, which he and cast-mates recently used to choreograph and block their moves
- Generally, I ‘block’ the show in my head prior to rehearsal.

Phrases

have been around the block (a few times)

informal (of a person) have a lot of experience.
Example sentencesExamples
- Many new breakthrough artists flung into the scene providing steady competition for the bands that have been around the block and back.
- The well-publicised shenanigans of his past prove that he is far from an innocent, but while this man may have been around the block a few times, there remains endearing childlike qualities.
- I am educated and well-bred, but I have been around the block a few times.
- Hey, it's all about experience, really, and he's been around the block a few times.
- Whatever the reasons, both men ended up sleeping in a strange city and trying to grapple with the expectations of experienced hosts who have been around the block quite a few times.
- You might say Nick has been around the block once or twice when it comes to online culture and community.
- Though 25 years his junior, Ethel gives off the aura of having been around the block a few times.
- But, these lads have been around the block a few times and, fair play to them, they showed a lot of resolve to bite the bullet and come good.
- We add an element of showbiz that probably comes from my experience of being in bands and having been around the block a few times.
- ‘You don't have the feeling that you have to prove something when you have been around the block a few times,’ he says.

the new kid on the block

informal A newcomer to a particular place or sphere of activity, typically someone who has yet to prove themselves.
Example sentencesExamples
- With too many clubs and not enough punters we had an uphill battle to fill a 3000 + capacity venue, especially when we were the new kids on the block.
- But, while the club may be the new kids on the block, they are not wet behind the ears and refuse to take anything for granted or be drawn into rash predictions.
- Forget, all the new kids on the block, few of them are fit enough to even hand him the microphone on stage.
- Then you have the new kids on the block where one good performance may elevate them to the top of the heap.
- ‘They are the new kids on the block and could veto this constitution before they even become a member of the union,’ said one diplomat.
- In more than one sense, they're the new kids on the block - a marketing approach that yields benefits and drawbacks.
- With the new kids on the block, cooking is less about the food you eat than the friends you invite around for dinner.
- Hearing these thirteen lads sing though, you would have no idea that they're new kids on the block.
- We're the new kids on the block in the central belt, which has brought a surge of interest among potential recruits.
- India and China, he says, are the new kids on the block and will outperform the rest of the world because they have whole-heartedly absorbed the new mantra of globalisation.
Synonyms
novice, starter, learner, student, pupil, trainee, apprentice, probationer

on the (auction) block

For sale at auction.
the original first manuscript for Ravel's Bolero goes on the block today
figurative the company put its subsidiary on the block because it did not fit its core business interests
Example sentencesExamples
- Some owners have a habit of running in with their unpaid taxes paid up minutes before their property goes on the block.
- The services of the celebrity painter commanded two winning bids of $25,000 to top a series of unique experiences offered on the auction block.
- At the same time, some of his designs are on the block at an auction in Chicago.
- Competitors try to drive down the price of policies on the auction block with whispers of whiskey-soaked college days and unconfirmed reports of compromising photos.
- And it likely would go on the auction block again.
- It would put the presidency right back on the auction block.
- According to the local paper, the company headquarters - built in 2003 for $12 million - is up on the auction block.
- The studio is placing props from the film on the block at their online auction house.

put (or lay) one's head (or neck) on the block

informal Put one's standing or reputation at risk by proceeding with a particular course of action.
Example sentencesExamples
- ‘I know what I'm talking about because I've been there, so I don't mind putting my neck on the block, ‘he says.’
- One thing about the previous commissioner is that he was not afraid to put his neck on the block and say what he believed.
- If it's not, I will be putting my head on the block again.
- And some people can get a little bit nervous about that because they think they're walking the long mile to put their head on the block, which is wrong.
- I don't want to put my head on the block and say that we will win.
- But I'd have to to be totally sure that I was on to a winner before putting my head on the block - watched by half the world.
- ‘You can't be the scapegoat if you decide yourself to put your head on the block,’ he said.
- Councillors often have to make difficult decisions, often putting their head on the block.
- It's a very special boss who puts his head on the block for anyone.
- I've already put my neck on the block and said there is plenty of fish to be had.

Phrasal Verbs

block something in

1Mark something out roughly.
Example sentencesExamples
- I've learned it's best to roughly block everything in first so you can see where everything is going as a whole.
- I start off by blocking in large shapes, value, and color.
Synonyms
outline, trace, draw the lines of, draw, sketch, block in, mark, mark off, mark out, delimit, mark the boundaries of, mark the limits of
1. 1.1Add something in a unit.
  it's a good idea to block in regular periods of exercise
  Example sentencesExamples
  Within your schedule, dont forget to block in time for meals and rest.
  She now starts every week by blocking in time for. these priorities first, no matter how busy she feels.
  It is strongly recommended that trainees be prepared to block in a 24-week period and make the training a top priority in order to receive maximum benefit from the training.
2. 1.2Paint something with solid areas of color.
  Example sentencesExamples
  It starts with a ‘poster study’ of blocked-in areas of color
  I blocked in my background colour with a nice aqua green.
  When you look at her pastels there seems to be a painterly quality almost completely lacking from her earlier paintings which are either coloured sketches or blocked in areas of flat colour.
  Synonyms
  darken, colour in, pencil in, block in, fill in
2Park one's car in such a way as to prevent another car from moving away.
he blocked in Vera's minivan
Example sentencesExamples
- They stopped a vehicle in the 20600-block of 48th Street, blocking it in.
- Once the singer had parked her car in a garage the show's team leapt into action blocking her car in with one of their own.
- However, as there is such pressure on parking here, many use our car park without permission with the consequence that funerals and weddings can be blocked in.
- If you are parking your caravan up for the winter, block it in with other vehicles or park it in such a way that thieves will not be able to tow it away easily.
- Their vehicle was rammed by one of the jeeps, despite the fact it was blocked in by another media vehicle and unable to move.
- They are a remarkably cheery bunch, even when their wagons are blocked in back lanes by stupidly parked cars, causing them to reverse for 50 yards or more with barely an inch on either side.
- I would ask drivers how they would feel if they were prevented from going to work, doing their shopping or visiting friends by cars parked across their drive or blocking their car in the street.
- Hence they have no hesitation in parking across another car thereby blocking it in, because ‘They will just be a minute.’
- Eastwood Park has an entrance at the end of Park Avenue and cars have been parking along the small road, obstructing access and blocking residents in.
- When they blocked the car in, they discovered that there was indeed a driver, but he couldn't see very well over the dashboard, as he was only 8 years old.

block something out

1Stop something such as light or noise from reaching somewhere.
you're blocking out my sun
Example sentencesExamples
- I usually just block such noises out because in the city there's always some lunatic running around shouting things but for some reason I ran to the cry for help.
- Tony is talking, while Davy is trying to block the noise out with his pillow.
- We stopped at 3am, when the cloud cover finally blocked them out.
- According to this watch it's only 2:17 pm but there's almost no natural light whatsoever; the sun is blocked out completely by low-hung clouds of industrial smog.
- The house is going to block the sunlight out of our south facing gardens.
- I keep trying to block his voice out of my head, but I can't stop it all the time.
- Dr Brown said: ‘The sun appears so small from that distance that you could completely block it out with the head of a pin.’
- I groaned, grabbing my pillow and placing it over my ears, blocking all noise out.
- I have always been really aware of fires and I knew to shut the door to block the fire out.
Synonyms
conceal, hide, screen, keep out, blot out, exclude
1. 1.1Exclude something unpleasant from one's thoughts or memory.
  Example sentencesExamples
  He tried to block those memories out, but he couldn't in his nearly unconscious state.
  Eva bit her lip and tried to block it out of her memory, but it was no use.
  Eventually though he managed to block them out and catch some much needed sleep.
  I sighed, wondering why I had chosen to block the memories out in the first place.
  They could wind up so traumatized by their actions that blocking the incident out could be their only option.
  Maybe we're just blocking it out like a bad memory or premonition.
  Synonyms
  conceal, hide, screen, keep out, blot out, exclude
2Mark or sketch something out roughly.
Example sentencesExamples
- Sometimes, I'll start right on the computer and then have to slow down and block things out on paper to sort things out.
- I write it down on my steno pad when the idea comes to me, and more or less block it out on paper first.
- I designed it by blocking it out on a ‘clean sheet’ using an architect's program.
- The image is first blocked out and then carved away to create very beautiful and amazing designs and patterns.
Synonyms
rough, rough out, sketch out, trace out, outline, set out, lay out, delineate, draft

Origin

Middle English (denoting a log or tree stump): from Old French bloc (noun), bloquer (verb), from Middle Dutch blok, of unknown ultimate origin.

单词	block
释义	Definition of block in English: block noun blɒkblɑk 1A large solid piece of hard material, especially rock, stone, or wood, typically with flat surfaces on each side. a block of marble Example sentencesExamples We waited two more months, saving enough to purchase 1,500 concrete blocks for the basement walls. One of the beds is even held up by a stack of wooden blocks! It is unfashionable to say so, but there is something powerfully evocative about this block of stone. An Incan wall of irregular stone blocks, fitted together so precisely that even after centuries of earthquakes it is not possible to fit a piece of paper between the joints. You're going to need a paved surface, concrete blocks, Tarmac even, so the delivery vehicles can get to the shops by the river. It is hoped to build a block wall faced with stone as soon as possible. Common building materials are concrete blocks and bricks. The upper guide had a steel roller at the back of the saw with hard maple side blocks. The strapping is used for a wide range of materials such as bricks, blocks, briquettes and tiles. In their traditional form, glass blocks are set like bricks or concrete blocks - one block at a time in slow, carefully constructed rows. It was like we were sitting on opposite sides of a block of marble. These huge, isolated blocks of rock look as though they should not be there. This guy has built various mathematical surfaces from lego blocks and some of them look amazingly intricate. Other materials for terraces include bricks, rocks, concrete blocks, and similar masonry materials. All the features, including stone blocks, wooden and steel doors and even the ironmongery, were hand-carved by the company's craft experts. The surface of gravel or blocks set on stone provides another permeable layer. There, as it had been during his initial inspection, was a stone block wall just as solid as any other in the castle. Now it resembled a low fortress wall with blocks of stone evenly cut and dressed, and white lines to guide devotees on moonless nights. Alex indicated a small, wooden block embedded in the stone floor. Its walls are made of solid stone blocks weighing over sixty tons each. Synonyms chunk, hunk, brick, slab, lump, piece 1.1 A sturdy flat-topped piece of wood used as a work surface. a chopping block Example sentencesExamples Extracting a block of wood and a knife he held it up to her from his seat on the floor. She took out a large knife from the cutting block and sliced a piece of cheese, promptly eating one. 1.2 A packaged rectangular portion of butter, ice cream, chocolate, etc. a family block of ice cream Example sentencesExamples The ‘glass’ was a square block of ice with a hole in the centre. He had unwrapped a large block of chocolate and had carelessly scattered his wrapper on the ground even though the bin was only a few metres away. It's at home, but the only time I've only ever used it has been for melting blocks of chocolate to make sauces. When you are ready to serve, cut the caramel block into your desired portion sizes and indulge. The easiest way to shape thin chocolate curls is to shave them directly from a block of chocolate, using a swivel vegetable peeler or sharp knife. I would go with my dad to awards banquets, where we would politely eat cold chicken, hard green peas, and a block of Neapolitan ice cream. I chewed ravenously as he pulled out a block of cheese and a slab of dried meat wrapped in a cloth. To make the curls, pull a vegetable peeler across the block of cheese. The ice cream came in blocks about six inches square. I felt like I'd just discovered a block of my favourite chocolate in the fridge just when I was feeling peckish. So much work and time for just a measly block of cheese. They couldn't have been simpler, just a block of vanilla ice cream in a glass and then fill with either coke or lemonade. It is made by placing a well-chilled block of ice cream on a base of sponge cake, masking it with uncooked meringue, and then baking it in a hot oven. In Chapter 2 we likened Mark's gospel to a block of chocolate which can easily be broken up into separate pieces. She took out a loaf of rye bread and a block of cheese wrapped in more paper. The charity will also insist that parents should be allowed to take the leave on a full-time or part-time basis, in one block of time or in several shorter blocks. Maybe you could give her a batch of bran muffins, a block of cheese, some fruit and some juice boxes every week. Bottle of milk, bottle of water, almost empty tub of margarine, half empty bottle of wine, 2 eggs and a small block of cheese. The recipe calls for a whole 250g block of butter. I dropped a block of bittersweet chocolate on a cutting board. Synonyms chunk, hunk, brick, slab, lump, piece 1.3British A set of sheets of paper glued along one edge, used for drawing or writing on. a sketching block Example sentencesExamples And her eye falls on a ball-point pen, which is innocently lying on top of a block of squared paper. if you want to make good watercolor sketches, pick up a block of watercolor paper in some portable size. A large conference table and whiteboard occupied one side of the room; the other side was filled with desks, notebooks and drawing blocks. The blocks of paper demolished the wall that was being repaired by builder David Gott after they were flung from the vehicle on the sharp corner bend approaching Keighley Road from Colne. I had my notes, a block of standard A4 lined refill paper for my essays and a sketchbook for art. Synonyms pad, notebook, jotter, tablet, sketchbook, scratch pad 1.4usually blocks A starting block. Jackson jetted out of his blocks Example sentencesExamples So he mounted the blocks in his resplendent blue trunks and did a massive belly flop on the starters gun. If our athletes feel disillusioned from the outset how on earth are they going to beat their peers when they step up to the blocks at the Olympics? As she blasted out of the blocks in the 400 metres in the European Championships last week, it looked like she might make qualification. I'm trying to focus and not to false start, fall at the line or basically walk instead of run out of the blocks as I sometimes do because any of these things could happen. We were slow out of the blocks against Italy but we expected a difficult game anyway in Rome. In every game, the pattern has been the same: The starting lineup gets out of the blocks well and quickly assumes a double-digit lead. Galway were out of the blocks quicker in the second half. Mayo roared out of the blocks and built up a commanding lead. So, as the women mounted the blocks for the start of the 50 meter free final, there was a certain amount of tension in the air. She blasted out of the blocks and immediately established her dominance over the other runners. The timers backed away as she stepped up to the block, for they knew Sally was now focused on the swimmers and the clock. Starting at the 10th hole on the final day, he shot out of the blocks, birdying the 11th and 12th. The sprinters get out of the blocks in the 100m as Oxford produce a superb overall team performance in the FEAR competition against Cambridge It was the perfect way to shrug of the frustrations of the 100m, where he was sluggish out of the blocks, but more particularly the long jump which followed the sprint. In 1984 at the Olympic Games, I was no better than fifth when I stepped on the blocks. The excitement was almost palpable as Michael stepped on the blocks on Day One for his first race, the 200 meter individual medley. Ireland were quicker out of the blocks, and they put immediate pressure on Scotland with two attacking moves in quick succession from penalty-created lineouts. As Maggie eases him over the stern of the catamaran, his flippers feel water - and suddenly he's out of the blocks like an Olympic sprinter. Less and less are we seeing these gleaming muscular models that step into the blocks looking more like bodybuilders than runners, particularly the women! He will now step up to the blocks to swim the 200, together with the 400 and 1500 free in the forthcoming games. 1.5Printing A piece of wood or metal engraved for printing on paper or fabric. Example sentencesExamples The printing blocks are made of wood, metal and other materials. The goal is to provide practical experience about block printing and registration of blocks. For multi-color printing several blocks had to be carved - one for each color. The artist could carve an image onto wooden or metal blocks, ink the block and impress it on paper. He has a predilection for wallpaper and wrapping paper, to which he applies repetitive motifs using stamps made from cut and engraved blocks of wood dipped in printer's ink or paint. 1.6 A large metal moulding containing the cylinders of an internal combustion engine. Example sentencesExamples These include a raised capacity, new cylinder block, pistons and crankshaft. Descending the reef again, I came across the engine block and crankshaft. For example, an automobile engine block is normally cast iron except for some which might be cast aluminum. In addition, there is room above the crank to isolate the camshaft in a cast tubular chamber - making the cylinder block stiffer. You need a piston, a manifold, then you need an engine block, a carburetor, a distributer, this that and the other thing. The impact was so intense that it cracked the engine block, ripped the seat bolts out of the floor board, caused the top of the car to cave in, and knocked both of my shoes off. The cylinder block has cast-in iron liners, and a one-piece aluminum crankshaft carrier with ferrous-carbon bearing cap inserts. Cables, gantries and all manner of unrecognisable machinery hamper navigation, although as time passes an exposed engine block allows me to make a bit more sense of the scene. Meanwhile, he says it may be possible to introduce a common cylinder block for gasoline and diesel engines within five years. Your engine block could freeze in the subzero winter temperatures - which seem to last from September to mid-June. Pistons for internal combustion engines are hard anodized to minimize the amount of thermal expansion in relation to possible thermal expansion of the engine block. Another was scraping resin off the engine block, to find some sort of identifying numbers. To fully inspect for damage, all components above the cylinder block were removed except for six of the 16 cylinder heads, one of the two charge air coolers and the engine controls. The engine block and cylinder head are made of cast aluminium. It doesn't, however, have an aluminum engine block. Water doesn't compress and the piston in effect hits a wall, bending or breaking a con rod and possibly shattering the engine block. These are bolted to the engine block and sealed with the aforementioned head gasket. A few chunks of twisted metal will identify the delivery vehicles, especially if the bombers forgot to file off serial numbers on the engine block. In addition there is a danger that freezing of water and the consequent expansion might even crack the radiator or the engine block. There was an expensive shriek of metal being crushed and the steam roller rose almost a full eight inches before the engine block shattered. 1.7 A head-shaped mould for shaping hats or wigs. 2British A large single building subdivided into separate rooms, flats, or offices. a block of flats Example sentencesExamples Sportsmen and women will be accommodated mainly two to a room in 32 blocks in six student halls of residence. A five-storey block incorporating offices and flats will now go ahead following the decision by councillors last week. Proposals to turn part of the existing building into flats and to build two blocks of two-storey flats have caused surprise and raised questions about where any revenue from the flats would go. But now there are plans to knock down the 1960s building and put three blocks of flats in its place. We now have a ‘box’ (actually bag) recycling scheme in our block for textiles, paper, cardboard, glass and tins. There would be 182 one and two-bedroom flats separated into three four-storey blocks on the site. Terraces and higher blocks of residential with offices on lower storeys, with 10 acre park on podium. Now the firm has drawn up a new scheme for two seven-storey blocks of flats and a three-storey shopping and office complex. Members ignored officers' advice and said two three-storey blocks of flats would have an adverse impact on neighbouring homes through overdevelopment. There must be some residential development in the area but we don't want blocks of flats or offices. The scheme, which includes terraced homes and three-storey blocks of flats, has already been given permission in principle. The third phase will involve the demolition of three accommodation blocks to make room for two new ones. The church still stands, now surrounded by office buildings and blocks of flats, and looking rather small among its neighbours. Nests have been known on railway bridges only a few feet below the tracks, in buildings near office blocks and on balconies of blocks of flats I was disturbed that 2 office blocks and a block of flats have sprung up on what were empty spaces in a nearby town since I last went past a month ago. On the north, the block contains a wooden staircase to the gallery and terrace, and bath- and shower-rooms. In contrast, most British residential blocks of flats were built by local authorities in the 1950s - 70s. The apartments will be in two blocks separated by a newly - created close, continuing the use of The Old Fish Market Close. The library building will be ripped down and replaced with a block of 29 sheltered accommodation flats and a new ground floor library. Whether you opt for a single flat or whole block, though, choosing where to buy can require some careful research. Synonyms building, complex, structure, development 2.1 A building or part of a complex used for a particular purpose. a shower block Example sentencesExamples But the school burned down and many classrooms and hostel blocks were completely destroyed. Meters have been re-connected in shower blocks. The blaze wrecked the school's offices, staff room, medical room and toilet block. And then the area surrounding that, right from the edge of the stable block into the Botanic Gardens, has now been created into a very large roof space. It was not just a pure fun programme mind you, but the proceeds of this show will go for building of a sanitary block for the school. They walked inside the front entrance together and then went their separate ways to form rooms about two school blocks apart. There was a shower block for which you had to queue. A new roof and heating system are among the priorities, as are upgraded toilet and shower blocks. A women's centre and an urban prayer garden complete the Cathedral block. The fire started in a manure heap on their farm, engulfed a trailer and looked set to spread along the stable block. The completion of the science block is not the end of developments at the School. They all have static caravans, some with their own showers - and if not, there are shower blocks. A new roof and boilers are needed, along with new toilet and shower blocks. Fires were started during the disturbance and one of the accommodation blocks and the administration block were completely gutted. Block E is the smallest block and is located along the Eastern boundary, adjacent to the rear of the Courthouse. The College has been granted planning permission to develop student housing blocks on their grounds. The report concluded that a simple burning rag should not have led to a huge fire that involved the roofs of two separate blocks of the building. Synonyms building, complex, structure, development 2.2 A group of buildings bounded by four streets. she went for a run round the block Example sentencesExamples I've been up the street, around the block, into the store and home again. Global terror is down the street, around the block. I drove around the block, swung across the road in what I thought was impeccable style, and was just moving into position by the pavement, when a police car drew up beside me. Some drive around the block rather than making a left turn. Round the block is Molesworth Street, home to a number of art establishments. It was parked at the end of the street and he drove it round the block, intending to park it outside his house, but was stopped on the way. The long lines snaked around the block in both directions. 2.3North American Any urban or suburban area bounded by four streets. ours was the ugliest house on the block Example sentencesExamples The family lives on a close-knit block in suburban Chicago. Now the former residents are being resettled in distant, high-rise residential blocks. On the same block four months later, a construction worker renovating a house made a dreadful discovery. As she shoved the note back into her book, the sound of several storm doors could be heard along the block as some of the late kids ran to catch the bus. Just down the street from me, for example, there's a block with several boarded-up houses on it. On the block where I lived, I remember seeing a young woman hunched over in pain, weeping hysterically. The Trust owns about 70 percent of four blocks in that area. The houses were arranged in blocks, with four houses to every side of a block. Somebody's already started going around my block in an ice cream van - before the daffodils are even certain of themselves yet. At the same time in DC, three intimidating looking black guys pulled up in front of a big house on a tree-lined block in a suburban neighborhood. One of the residents said the area's council blocks had been transformed since the project started. In particular, there is concern over several blocks along Fifth and Forbes Avenues in the center of town. This map does not register streets or blocks of houses, but consists of the sheer movements of real people. The Marines found that one out of every four city blocks contained a major weapons storage area. Regular maintenance of the street ended after three blocks and the area beyond looked rougher. There are five different Vinyl Japan stores in the same block, four if you don't count the house/dance music store. As a result, he photographed and described street blocks and individual houses. Long lines of cars, taxis and buses coiled around city blocks and suburban streets. 2.4North American The length of one side of a block, especially as a measure of distance. he lives a few blocks away from the museum Example sentencesExamples I would never backpack or turn a somersault or jump to the ground from even the most modest height or run the length of half a block. At about the same time, a few blocks from Mrs. Rider, a woman and her children awoke and began vomiting. They walked up the four blocks to the coffee house. In no time at all the said queue stretched the entire length of the block. Although the distance to the pool was only about the length of a short block, my feet felt as though they were about to fall off because they were so cold. She made her way to the corner store four blocks from her house. A vigil every 20 blocks for the whole length of Manhattan. It's five blocks to the mall in the opposite direction from the school, four blocks past my house. And the water can enter the system from an area three, four blocks, a mile away. She sat sullenly the last three blocks, tension mounting within her. He had only seen her from a distance, from a block away, but that had been enough, and he was determined never to see her up close. Broadway is a few blocks distant but worlds away from the cultural corridor along Grand Avenue. A few arrests were made when protesters tried to break through barricades set up within two blocks of the Garden along the march route. We walked along the piers seven blocks then up the hill to the Pike Street Market. They could hear the noise from the crowd when they were a block away, along with the sounds of the band tuning up. I took this photo this morning on a street a couple of blocks from my house. Allie's house was only four blocks away so we decided to walk there. I'm pretty sure you can obtain all those things within 2 or 3 blocks along Melrose Blvd. in Hollywood. Interior hallways run nearly the length of a city block, and could have resembled an endless, generic motel corridor. Nora was walking down the street a couple of blocks away from my house. 3A large quantity or allocation of things regarded as a unit. a block of shares final examinations will be taken in a block at the end of the course Example sentencesExamples Each subject completed 10 blocks of 10 practice trials. The order of presentation of these blocks was completely randomized across participants. Each participant completed three blocks of 120 trials, one for each of the difficulty levels. Each block or placement is completed in a different facility. All subjects completed five blocks of 15 learning trials. A block of 55,500 Petrol shares was sold at 14.31 and another 129,500 shares at 14.32. The expressions were ordered in a random way rather than in blocks of expressions with the same algebraic structure. Braille music uses the same system of raised dots on paper as standard Braille, with the top four dots in a block of six giving the note and the bottom two indicating its duration. These items were added as a block to the entire questionnaire. If he has completed his initial block, he keeps moving, looking for someone else to hit. The surgical suite allocates Dr Jones two eight-hour blocks per week to complete his elective cases. You will most likely sleep in two hour blocks at completely random times throughout the day. The therapy involves undertaking six-week blocks of different exercises, spread over a year, with the aim of stimulating a part of the brain called the cerebellum. These spirals were three and four years long each, so for all intents and purposes they were blocks. All of the participants completed both blocks with the order of completion counterbalanced across participants. Synonyms batch, group, cluster, set, section, quantity, series 3.1Computing A large piece of text processed as a unit. Example sentencesExamples Maybe you type the same blocks of text into your email messages thirty times a day. Text messaging, which allows blocks of text up to 160 characters long to be sent, has been a huge success with 50 million being sent in Britain alone every day. The method is well suited for use in a microprocessor-based modem operating on blocks of data. When speaking about hypertext, it refers specifically to blocks of text connected by hyperlinks. For example, one informant disliked scrolling to read columns and preferred page-wide blocks of text. 4An obstacle to the normal progress or functioning of something. substantial demands for time off may constitute a block to career advancement an emotional block Example sentencesExamples But you put up mental and emotional blocks around your mind. It goes to reinforce my jaded view that the media are a block to reasoned public debate, the open society, and education. Also, overcoming the obstacle of having these blocks put in the path - they're not willing to settle for less than what they're capable of doing. The public system as a whole is seen as a block to that market. A high-profile civil case would mean lurid newspaper headlines and act as a block to any possibility of restarting a television career. If you break the rules of existence, there's usually a block to progress until you have connected things. Indeed, I fear that serial co-habitation could actually be a block to marriage with parties becoming afraid of making the commitment. I refuse to believe that the colour of my skin is a block to achieving whatever I want to be. It had just become too expensive (and was becoming a block to ‘free’ trade). Maybe he has a writing block because he doesn't smoke. The result was ‘a writing block which went on for a long time, and I am sure it was because I was afraid to say what I wanted, what mattered to me’. Secondly a whole set of conditions have been placed on the developing world, many of which have been seen by campaigners and the nations themselves, as a block to necessary progress. The major problem that emerges is voltage leaks, which cause the chip to heat up considerably and ultimately put a block on progress. The writing block that plagued him for years has started to lift. Synonyms obstacle, obstruction, bar, barrier, impediment, hindrance, check, hurdle, stumbling block difficulty, problem, snag, disadvantage, complication, drawback, hitch, handicap, deterrent blockage, obstruction, stoppage, stopping up, clot, occlusion impediment, hindrance congestion 4.1 An act of blocking someone or something. Marshall's shot drew a fine block from the goalkeeper Example sentencesExamples As the two fighters once again clashed, their movements became faster and more intense with each block. He's a good athlete who has the ability to get downfield and make blocks. Wand has long arms, but he doesn't use them to his advantage to gain leverage and maintain blocks. A sure-fire way to get beat is to be thinking about the last block rather than focusing on the next. There's a flip side, though: One big shot or a great block will inspire this guy like no one else. He's not quick enough to defeat blocks in the run game to pursue backside running plays and is a liability in coverage. He is smart, quick and agile enough to make blocks downfield, but lacks the initial pop to be an outstanding guard. Miss a block and a teammate will be dealt a devastating blow. A lot of this is developed on the playground where no real fouls are called and the shooters must alter their shot to avoid a block. Lunge, parry, head block… all the movements of sword fighting were familiar to her. When it comes to communicating the importance of a movement, a block, a play, or a game, Davis has few equals. He is very good in space, whether it's pulling on wide plays or getting a downfield block. He was the bulldozer for college football's most punishing running attack, with the pancake block being his trademark. Driver caught seven passes for 78 yards and executed several downfield blocks. This also limits his ability to make downfield blocks on linebackers. Bell is usually the first one downfield on punts, fighting through blocks and disrupting the return. Moss, meanwhile, began running out every pattern, even when he was a decoy, and he started throwing blocks downfield. Dilger doesn't hesitate to sell out on a block downfield or on the line. His exceptional quickness and agility allow him to get downfield and make blocks at the second level of the defense. He can pull on running plays and screens and get downfield to throw a block. 4.2 A chock for stopping the motion of a wheel. Example sentencesExamples Make sure you have a jack that will lift the trailer (with horses inside) or a wheel block to pull one trailer tire onto to get the other one off the ground. 4.3Cricket The spot on which a batsman rests the end of the bat while waiting to receive a ball. Example sentencesExamples He misses, the ball lands in the block hole, and makes contact with the pads. He picked up four late wickets by virtue of keeping the ball up in the blockhole. Exactly half of his deliveries were on a good length, and while he banged 18 in short, another 11 were pitched well up in the blockhole. 5A flat area of something, especially a solid area of colour. cover the eyelid with a neutral block of colour Example sentencesExamples Turquoise with bright color blocks of red and yellow. Women don't want a block of colour, especially not black after all this mourning. The ink of the fixing agent is subsequently overprinted on the above block of colour in the required image. It would look silly to draw the character as is; the background would be drawn too, and the character would be surrounded by a block of solid color. This image has four blocks of colour dark green, burgundy, dark blue and light cyan used to adjust the colour settings of a computer monitor. The visual system of the tsetse fly is particularly sensitive to large blocks of contrasting color. 5.1Australian, NZ historical An area of land, in particular a tract offered to an individual settler by a government. Example sentencesExamples His scheme collapsed and he and his family settled on a block of land south west of Clare. There were also many blocks of land listed in Adelaide and country towns as well as cattle, sheep and farming implements. During 1878 the town of Eurelia was surveyed and the first blocks of land sold on 10 October 1878 for $5. each. The preamble talks about how approximately 87,000 acres of confiscated land was divided into blocks. That feature is linked to the original development of the irrigation areas with smallholder fruit blocks for soldier settlers and, later, new immigrants. 5.2Australian An urban or suburban building plot. Example sentencesExamples It had 432 allotments of a quarter acre each and 88 suburban blocks ranging in size from five to eleven acres. Those business people have now been subdividing the land, and selling blocks for housing and commercial developments. Large blocks of land had not been amalgamated as envisaged. If we wander in here, see I suppose this area here is probably only about as big as a couple of suburban blocks of land. The business was being used to sell country homes and blocks of land throughout New South Wales. 6A pulley or system of pulleys mounted in a case. a simple pulley block Example sentencesExamples It is a hoist for lifting appliances, and more specifically a block-and-pulley arrangement, or a block-and-tackle arrangement. A block which moves downward is attached to a string which is wrapped around the pulley. It was here that he was awarded £17,000 by the government for the patent of his mechanical ships blocks. verb blɒkblɑk [with object] 1Make the movement or flow in (a passage, pipe, road, etc.) difficult or impossible. block up the holes with sticky tape the narrow roads were blocked by cars Example sentencesExamples As well as blocking the hospital drive there have been problems with cars blocking the road and parking in the driveways of houses. A portion of this tube may be causing you difficulty due to narrowing or a growth blocking the passage of food and liquids. A waste disposal lorry and a pick-up truck crashed on a narrow bridge, blocking a main road. The second trailer remained upright as the truck slid to the wrong side of the road, blocking the highway. The truck was greeted at the end of the approach road by a number of tractors which blocked the passage and proceeded slowly along the two mile journey. While allowing the bus stops in the road, care must be taken to avoid buses being parked right opposite to each other on busy roads and blocking entire flow of traffic. But police radioed ahead and blocked off the narrow road with a police pick-up truck, finally bringing the Toyota to a stop. They cannot risk the frequent delivery delays that occur when the motorway is blocked by road works or accidents. In those cases, the fuelers usually set up on a major road that was blocked off for fueling operations. A truck parked in the middle of the narrow street blocked the road. The road was blocked off and the 93 bus couldn't get through, so I caught another one which took me all around the houses, but it was still stuck in traffic. ‘The parked cars block the road and leave nowhere for anyone to pull in,’ he said. Major roads were blocked off, threatening huge traffic disruption. They literally bulldozed aside the police cars blocking the road. Emergency services were called and the road was blocked off. New Street was blocked off and police diverted traffic onto High Street. A group of young men hanging out in the middle of the road blocked her passage. We turned right and, sure enough, the road was blocked and the car park boarded off and derelict. All the street was blocked off and there were so many people outside. She was blocking the road and cars behind her and in front of her were unable to move. Synonyms clog (up), stop up, choke, plug, obstruct, gum up, occlude, dam up, congest, jam, close informal bung up, gunge up close up, bar, obstruct, shut off, barricade, seal 1.1 Put an obstacle in the way of (something proposed or attempted) he stood up, blocking her escape the government tried to block an agreement on farm subsidies Example sentencesExamples First, they block unauthorized attempts to reach and then damage or take control of your system. She was overjoyed at this but as she tried to merge with it something powerful blocked her attempts. New temporary barriers have been installed to block any other attempts by vehicles to cross the bridge. But when injuries are less obvious or workers seem uncooperative, companies often block every attempt to seek benefits. Under the ancien régime these two powerful groups had often blocked princely attempts to rationalize and centralize the administration. Given they both own more than 25% of shares, either side could block a takeover attempt by the other. His replacement as senior consultant blocks an attempt for him to be awarded emeritus status. She heard him curse softly and then he shifted his wait, effectively blocking her attempt at freedom. Known as ‘the nuclear option’, the Democrats blocked the attempt. The company initially tried to block attempts by this newspaper last week to inspect parts of its shareholder register, a public document. Government officials, knowing that the findings would likely be negative and fearful that they would leak, blocked the effort. The management has consistently refused to grant concessions on economic issues and has worked to block attempts at employee organization. The army sent out a force of sixty men to retrieve him but the attempt was blocked and the group was surrounded by the Apaches. Opposition Conservative MPs blocked an attempt by the government to fine the companies $250,000 a day for contempt of Parliament. Can you blame the Senate blocking his half-baked attempts at policy formulation? But this Council finds the idea distasteful and is blocking every attempt to find a suitable location. Fortunately I think our firewall had been blocking the access attempts, but the popup ads were still happening. Synonyms hinder, hamper, obstruct, impede, inhibit, check, arrest, restrict, limit, deter, curb, interrupt halt, stop, bar, prevent, thwart, baulk, frustrate, foil, scotch, circumvent, stand in the way of informal fetter 1.2 Prevent access to or the use of (email or a website or mobile phone) some companies use these IMEI numbers to block stolen phones Example sentencesExamples Obviously, not all spam filters work that well, but this seems like a really odd choice as a way to block spam. It was a matter of blocking the critical political web sites. Today, Firefox blocked it to disable a security vulnerability that affects it. Thanks for reviewing and no, I don't think your reviews are like hell for me because if I did, I would have already blocked you. And in the meantime, I'd have someone hide the medical encyclopaedia and block your access to all medical websites, if at all possible. A separate debate over Internet monitoring in Germany broke out last month as federal lawmakers approved legislation to allow websites containing child pornography to be blocked. If requested by police it can block telephone numbers to stop someone calling out, including texting. The idea of blocking access where someone is using a lot of bandwidth just doesn't work. It will not block pop-ups unless users enable the feature. However, the list is effective at blocking the most egregious spammers so it should result in a significant reduction in spam. 1.3 Restrict the use or conversion of (currency or any other asset). Example sentencesExamples In such circumstances, post-merger performance in the relevant market may be no worse than market performance had the merger been blocked and the assets left the market. This has been blamed for blocking overseas-bound investment by mainland enterprises. Foreign financial institutions are required to block the funds and assets of such groups. The U.S. has rallied 120 nations to block assets of suspected terrorist groups. Over the weekend, legislators passed a law blocking access for three years to hard currency held in high-interest accounts with the country's two state banks. By building up a sizeable stake they will control enough equity in the company to block a compulsory takeover by another bidder. In his evidence, he said that if the acquisition was blocked, it would have been a waste of a ‘tremendous amount of time and energy’. 1.4American Football Impede the progress of (a tackler) with one's body. Example sentencesExamples He suffered the injury when he was blocked low on a screen pass. On passes, the offense relies on tight ends to block linebackers and sometimes defensive ends. The Giants' only score of the game - a touchdown in the third quarter - came when they blocked one of our punts and recovered it in the endzone. Supposedly he managed to retain his agility as he put on weight, which should help him in pulling and getting out to block linebackers. The team's backs and tight ends have problems blocking linebackers. 1.5 (in sport) stop (a ball or blow) from finding its mark. Knight did well to block Soloman's shot Example sentencesExamples Boxers need to move quickly in the ring, block or avoid their opponent's blows, get past his guard and then hit with power. Of course it's best if you can block another opponent while advancing yourself at the same time. He showed her techniques on how to block or attack the opponent. There is some skill required, as you want to rearrange the cards in order to block your opponent from gaining points. Two shots were blocked but the ball eventually fell to Chambers who slotted it into the far corner. He has such explosive leaping ability he can block anyone's shot. He brought his stave up and I quickly dropped my left hand, dealing him a one-handed blow on the side off his arm before bringing my own stave up to block his blow. He is a very good athlete who can block shots and has a good shooting stroke. There are a ton of punch combinations and you'll need to learn the art of blocking as well, since it could mean the difference during a bout in the ring. Every single one of his intended blows was blocked and parried, even when the man tripped and fell backwards. I don't believe in trying to force a technique that an opponent is blocking - that is just a waste of energy. He could block opponents, he could kick, he could pass. Synonyms parry, stop, defend against, fend off, stave off, turn aside, deflect, hold off, avert, repel, rebuff, repulse, hold/keep at bay 1.6Cricket Stop (a ball) with the bat defensively. Example sentencesExamples He declined to play attacking shots for the best part of his stay at the crease, not even looking to score, and instead blocked, padded up or left the ball alone. He was unable to pierce the field and his method of blocking the ball with soft hands close to the wickets to pinch quick singles just didn't work. And with the Aussie bowling around the wicket into the rough, he is content to let the ball hit his front pad and block the over out. The difference between him and everyone else was that he would hit a 50-50 ball that anyone else would leave or block, and hit it with immense force. 1.7Bridge Play in such a way that opponents are prevented from establishing (a long suit). Example sentencesExamples They also block the discard pile for the opponents when discarded. Black threes can be discarded, and block the next player from taking the pile. Often, however, you cannot take the discard pile because you are blocked by a black three discarded by your right hand opponent. A common mistake by beginners is that when your best suit proves to be blocked by the opponent to switch and try each other suit in turn. 2Impress text or a design on (a book cover). Example sentencesExamples Original blue cloth, spine lettered and blocked in gold. Original pale green linen, blocked in an orange-red and black pictorial design on the upper cover. 3Shape or reshape (a hat) on a mould. nobody cleans and blocks old felt hats any more Example sentencesExamples He is well cast and carries the part like a well blocked hat, (though his own hat sometimes got the better of him). It's going to need a pretty firm hand to block it to shape. Phrases have been around the block (a few times) informal (of a person) have a lot of experience. Example sentencesExamples We add an element of showbiz that probably comes from my experience of being in bands and having been around the block a few times. I am educated and well-bred, but I have been around the block a few times. Hey, it's all about experience, really, and he's been around the block a few times. You might say Nick has been around the block once or twice when it comes to online culture and community. But, these lads have been around the block a few times and, fair play to them, they showed a lot of resolve to bite the bullet and come good. Many new breakthrough artists flung into the scene providing steady competition for the bands that have been around the block and back. The well-publicised shenanigans of his past prove that he is far from an innocent, but while this man may have been around the block a few times, there remains endearing childlike qualities. ‘You don't have the feeling that you have to prove something when you have been around the block a few times,’ he says. Though 25 years his junior, Ethel gives off the aura of having been around the block a few times. Whatever the reasons, both men ended up sleeping in a strange city and trying to grapple with the expectations of experienced hosts who have been around the block quite a few times. the new kid on the block informal A newcomer to a particular place or sphere of activity. what can the new kid on the block learn from the earlier Democrat's mistakes? Example sentencesExamples With the new kids on the block, cooking is less about the food you eat than the friends you invite around for dinner. In more than one sense, they're the new kids on the block - a marketing approach that yields benefits and drawbacks. We're the new kids on the block in the central belt, which has brought a surge of interest among potential recruits. ‘They are the new kids on the block and could veto this constitution before they even become a member of the union,’ said one diplomat. Hearing these thirteen lads sing though, you would have no idea that they're new kids on the block. India and China, he says, are the new kids on the block and will outperform the rest of the world because they have whole-heartedly absorbed the new mantra of globalisation. Then you have the new kids on the block where one good performance may elevate them to the top of the heap. With too many clubs and not enough punters we had an uphill battle to fill a 3000 + capacity venue, especially when we were the new kids on the block. Forget, all the new kids on the block, few of them are fit enough to even hand him the microphone on stage. But, while the club may be the new kids on the block, they are not wet behind the ears and refuse to take anything for granted or be drawn into rash predictions. Synonyms novice, starter, learner, student, pupil, trainee, apprentice, probationer on the (auction) block For sale at auction. the original first manuscript for Ravel's Bolero goes on the block today Example sentencesExamples Competitors try to drive down the price of policies on the auction block with whispers of whiskey-soaked college days and unconfirmed reports of compromising photos. The services of the celebrity painter commanded two winning bids of $25,000 to top a series of unique experiences offered on the auction block. And it likely would go on the auction block again. The studio is placing props from the film on the block at their online auction house. It would put the presidency right back on the auction block. At the same time, some of his designs are on the block at an auction in Chicago. Some owners have a habit of running in with their unpaid taxes paid up minutes before their property goes on the block. According to the local paper, the company headquarters - built in 2003 for $12 million - is up on the auction block. put (or lay) one's head (or neck) on the block informal Put one's standing or reputation at risk by proceeding with a particular course of action. it's not in your nature to put your head on the block Example sentencesExamples And some people can get a little bit nervous about that because they think they're walking the long mile to put their head on the block, which is wrong. One thing about the previous commissioner is that he was not afraid to put his neck on the block and say what he believed. I've already put my neck on the block and said there is plenty of fish to be had. But I'd have to to be totally sure that I was on to a winner before putting my head on the block - watched by half the world. Councillors often have to make difficult decisions, often putting their head on the block. If it's not, I will be putting my head on the block again. ‘I know what I'm talking about because I've been there, so I don't mind putting my neck on the block, ‘he says.’ ‘You can't be the scapegoat if you decide yourself to put your head on the block,’ he said. It's a very special boss who puts his head on the block for anyone. I don't want to put my head on the block and say that we will win. Phrasal Verbs block something in 1Paint something with solid areas of colour. the sunflowers are blocked in with yellow Example sentencesExamples I blocked in my background colour with a nice aqua green. It starts with a ‘poster study’ of blocked-in areas of color When you look at her pastels there seems to be a painterly quality almost completely lacking from her earlier paintings which are either coloured sketches or blocked in areas of flat colour. Synonyms darken, colour in, pencil in, block in, fill in 1.1Add something in a unit. it's a good idea to block in regular periods of exercise Example sentencesExamples She now starts every week by blocking in time for. these priorities first, no matter how busy she feels. It is strongly recommended that trainees be prepared to block in a 24-week period and make the training a top priority in order to receive maximum benefit from the training. Within your schedule, dont forget to block in time for meals and rest. 1.2Mark something out roughly. I often start with no preliminary line but go straight in, blocking in the face and body Example sentencesExamples I've learned it's best to roughly block everything in first so you can see where everything is going as a whole. I start off by blocking in large shapes, value, and color. Synonyms outline, trace, draw the lines of, draw, sketch, block in, mark, mark off, mark out, delimit, mark the boundaries of, mark the limits of 2Park one's car in such a way as to prevent another car from moving away. he blocked in Vera's Mini Example sentencesExamples If you are parking your caravan up for the winter, block it in with other vehicles or park it in such a way that thieves will not be able to tow it away easily. However, as there is such pressure on parking here, many use our car park without permission with the consequence that funerals and weddings can be blocked in. Eastwood Park has an entrance at the end of Park Avenue and cars have been parking along the small road, obstructing access and blocking residents in. Hence they have no hesitation in parking across another car thereby blocking it in, because ‘They will just be a minute.’ Their vehicle was rammed by one of the jeeps, despite the fact it was blocked in by another media vehicle and unable to move. They stopped a vehicle in the 20600-block of 48th Street, blocking it in. Once the singer had parked her car in a garage the show's team leapt into action blocking her car in with one of their own. They are a remarkably cheery bunch, even when their wagons are blocked in back lanes by stupidly parked cars, causing them to reverse for 50 yards or more with barely an inch on either side. I would ask drivers how they would feel if they were prevented from going to work, doing their shopping or visiting friends by cars parked across their drive or blocking their car in the street. When they blocked the car in, they discovered that there was indeed a driver, but he couldn't see very well over the dashboard, as he was only 8 years old. block something out 1Stop something such as light or noise from reaching somewhere. you're blocking out my sun Example sentencesExamples We stopped at 3am, when the cloud cover finally blocked them out. I usually just block such noises out because in the city there's always some lunatic running around shouting things but for some reason I ran to the cry for help. Dr Brown said: ‘The sun appears so small from that distance that you could completely block it out with the head of a pin.’ According to this watch it's only 2:17 pm but there's almost no natural light whatsoever; the sun is blocked out completely by low-hung clouds of industrial smog. Tony is talking, while Davy is trying to block the noise out with his pillow. I have always been really aware of fires and I knew to shut the door to block the fire out. I keep trying to block his voice out of my head, but I can't stop it all the time. I groaned, grabbing my pillow and placing it over my ears, blocking all noise out. The house is going to block the sunlight out of our south facing gardens. Synonyms conceal, hide, screen, keep out, blot out, exclude 1.1Exclude something unpleasant from one's thoughts or memory. they had managed to block out incidents from long ago Example sentencesExamples Eventually though he managed to block them out and catch some much needed sleep. Maybe we're just blocking it out like a bad memory or premonition. I sighed, wondering why I had chosen to block the memories out in the first place. He tried to block those memories out, but he couldn't in his nearly unconscious state. Eva bit her lip and tried to block it out of her memory, but it was no use. They could wind up so traumatized by their actions that blocking the incident out could be their only option. Synonyms conceal, hide, screen, keep out, blot out, exclude 2Mark or sketch something out roughly. I would block out an area and sketch in the detail Example sentencesExamples I write it down on my steno pad when the idea comes to me, and more or less block it out on paper first. I designed it by blocking it out on a ‘clean sheet’ using an architect's program. Sometimes, I'll start right on the computer and then have to slow down and block things out on paper to sort things out. The image is first blocked out and then carved away to create very beautiful and amazing designs and patterns. Synonyms rough, rough out, sketch out, trace out, outline, set out, lay out, delineate, draft Origin Middle English (denoting a log or tree stump): from Old French bloc (noun), bloquer (verb), from Middle Dutch blok, of unknown ultimate origin. In the early Middle Ages a block was a log or tree stump. The word came from French bloc, which English readopted in a different sense as bloc, ‘a group of countries that have formed an alliance’, in the early 20th century. By the late Middle Ages a block was often a large lump of wood on which chopping, hammering, and beheading were performed. We refer to an executioner's block when we use the phrase to put your head (or neck) on the block. A block of buildings, bounded by four streets, dates from the late 18th century in North America. This use has given rise to numerous popular phrases: the new kid on the block, and the person believed to have been around the block a few times (to have a lot of experience). It also gave us the blockbuster. Although this now means ‘a great commercial success’, in the 1940s it was a huge aerial bomb capable of destroying a whole block of streets. Block has meant head, as in to knock someone's block off, since the 17th century. In Australia. to do or lose your block is to lose your temper. See also loggerhead Rhymes ad hoc, amok, Bangkok, baroque, belle époque, bloc, bock, brock, chock, chock-a-block, clock, doc, dock, floc, flock, frock, hock, hough, interlock, jock, knock, langue d'oc, lock, Locke, Médoc, mock, nock, o'clock, pock, post hoc, roc, rock, schlock, shock, smock, sock, Spock, stock, wok, yapok noun.1 phr. phr.v. Definition of block in US English: block nounblɑkbläk 1A large solid piece of hard material, especially rock, stone, or wood, typically with flat surfaces on each side. a block of marble Example sentencesExamples Now it resembled a low fortress wall with blocks of stone evenly cut and dressed, and white lines to guide devotees on moonless nights. It was like we were sitting on opposite sides of a block of marble. The strapping is used for a wide range of materials such as bricks, blocks, briquettes and tiles. There, as it had been during his initial inspection, was a stone block wall just as solid as any other in the castle. Its walls are made of solid stone blocks weighing over sixty tons each. All the features, including stone blocks, wooden and steel doors and even the ironmongery, were hand-carved by the company's craft experts. In their traditional form, glass blocks are set like bricks or concrete blocks - one block at a time in slow, carefully constructed rows. These huge, isolated blocks of rock look as though they should not be there. The surface of gravel or blocks set on stone provides another permeable layer. One of the beds is even held up by a stack of wooden blocks! The upper guide had a steel roller at the back of the saw with hard maple side blocks. This guy has built various mathematical surfaces from lego blocks and some of them look amazingly intricate. You're going to need a paved surface, concrete blocks, Tarmac even, so the delivery vehicles can get to the shops by the river. It is unfashionable to say so, but there is something powerfully evocative about this block of stone. Other materials for terraces include bricks, rocks, concrete blocks, and similar masonry materials. It is hoped to build a block wall faced with stone as soon as possible. We waited two more months, saving enough to purchase 1,500 concrete blocks for the basement walls. Common building materials are concrete blocks and bricks. Alex indicated a small, wooden block embedded in the stone floor. An Incan wall of irregular stone blocks, fitted together so precisely that even after centuries of earthquakes it is not possible to fit a piece of paper between the joints. Synonyms chunk, hunk, brick, slab, lump, piece 1.1 A sturdy, flat-topped block used as a work surface, typically for chopping food. Example sentencesExamples She took out a large knife from the cutting block and sliced a piece of cheese, promptly eating one. Extracting a block of wood and a knife he held it up to her from his seat on the floor. 1.2British A set of sheets of paper glued along one edge, used for drawing or writing on. a sketching block Example sentencesExamples if you want to make good watercolor sketches, pick up a block of watercolor paper in some portable size. The blocks of paper demolished the wall that was being repaired by builder David Gott after they were flung from the vehicle on the sharp corner bend approaching Keighley Road from Colne. A large conference table and whiteboard occupied one side of the room; the other side was filled with desks, notebooks and drawing blocks. And her eye falls on a ball-point pen, which is innocently lying on top of a block of squared paper. I had my notes, a block of standard A4 lined refill paper for my essays and a sketchbook for art. Synonyms pad, notebook, jotter, tablet, sketchbook, scratch pad 1.3usually blocks Any of a set of solid cubes used as a child's toy. 1.4usually blocks A starting block. the thrust a sprinter gets when coming out of the blocks Example sentencesExamples So, as the women mounted the blocks for the start of the 50 meter free final, there was a certain amount of tension in the air. Galway were out of the blocks quicker in the second half. In every game, the pattern has been the same: The starting lineup gets out of the blocks well and quickly assumes a double-digit lead. As Maggie eases him over the stern of the catamaran, his flippers feel water - and suddenly he's out of the blocks like an Olympic sprinter. I'm trying to focus and not to false start, fall at the line or basically walk instead of run out of the blocks as I sometimes do because any of these things could happen. It was the perfect way to shrug of the frustrations of the 100m, where he was sluggish out of the blocks, but more particularly the long jump which followed the sprint. Less and less are we seeing these gleaming muscular models that step into the blocks looking more like bodybuilders than runners, particularly the women! As she blasted out of the blocks in the 400 metres in the European Championships last week, it looked like she might make qualification. She blasted out of the blocks and immediately established her dominance over the other runners. The timers backed away as she stepped up to the block, for they knew Sally was now focused on the swimmers and the clock. He will now step up to the blocks to swim the 200, together with the 400 and 1500 free in the forthcoming games. If our athletes feel disillusioned from the outset how on earth are they going to beat their peers when they step up to the blocks at the Olympics? Starting at the 10th hole on the final day, he shot out of the blocks, birdying the 11th and 12th. So he mounted the blocks in his resplendent blue trunks and did a massive belly flop on the starters gun. In 1984 at the Olympic Games, I was no better than fifth when I stepped on the blocks. The excitement was almost palpable as Michael stepped on the blocks on Day One for his first race, the 200 meter individual medley. We were slow out of the blocks against Italy but we expected a difficult game anyway in Rome. Ireland were quicker out of the blocks, and they put immediate pressure on Scotland with two attacking moves in quick succession from penalty-created lineouts. Mayo roared out of the blocks and built up a commanding lead. The sprinters get out of the blocks in the 100m as Oxford produce a superb overall team performance in the FEAR competition against Cambridge 1.5Printing A piece of wood or metal engraved for printing on paper or fabric. Example sentencesExamples He has a predilection for wallpaper and wrapping paper, to which he applies repetitive motifs using stamps made from cut and engraved blocks of wood dipped in printer's ink or paint. For multi-color printing several blocks had to be carved - one for each color. The goal is to provide practical experience about block printing and registration of blocks. The printing blocks are made of wood, metal and other materials. The artist could carve an image onto wooden or metal blocks, ink the block and impress it on paper. 1.6 The main body of an internal combustion engine, containing the pistons. Example sentencesExamples Your engine block could freeze in the subzero winter temperatures - which seem to last from September to mid-June. The engine block and cylinder head are made of cast aluminium. Water doesn't compress and the piston in effect hits a wall, bending or breaking a con rod and possibly shattering the engine block. Pistons for internal combustion engines are hard anodized to minimize the amount of thermal expansion in relation to possible thermal expansion of the engine block. In addition, there is room above the crank to isolate the camshaft in a cast tubular chamber - making the cylinder block stiffer. To fully inspect for damage, all components above the cylinder block were removed except for six of the 16 cylinder heads, one of the two charge air coolers and the engine controls. A few chunks of twisted metal will identify the delivery vehicles, especially if the bombers forgot to file off serial numbers on the engine block. The impact was so intense that it cracked the engine block, ripped the seat bolts out of the floor board, caused the top of the car to cave in, and knocked both of my shoes off. The cylinder block has cast-in iron liners, and a one-piece aluminum crankshaft carrier with ferrous-carbon bearing cap inserts. Cables, gantries and all manner of unrecognisable machinery hamper navigation, although as time passes an exposed engine block allows me to make a bit more sense of the scene. In addition there is a danger that freezing of water and the consequent expansion might even crack the radiator or the engine block. Descending the reef again, I came across the engine block and crankshaft. These are bolted to the engine block and sealed with the aforementioned head gasket. There was an expensive shriek of metal being crushed and the steam roller rose almost a full eight inches before the engine block shattered. It doesn't, however, have an aluminum engine block. Another was scraping resin off the engine block, to find some sort of identifying numbers. You need a piston, a manifold, then you need an engine block, a carburetor, a distributer, this that and the other thing. Meanwhile, he says it may be possible to introduce a common cylinder block for gasoline and diesel engines within five years. For example, an automobile engine block is normally cast iron except for some which might be cast aluminum. These include a raised capacity, new cylinder block, pistons and crankshaft. 1.7 A head-shaped mold used for shaping hats or wigs. 2British A large single building subdivided into separate rooms, apartments, or offices. an apartment block Example sentencesExamples There must be some residential development in the area but we don't want blocks of flats or offices. Proposals to turn part of the existing building into flats and to build two blocks of two-storey flats have caused surprise and raised questions about where any revenue from the flats would go. Nests have been known on railway bridges only a few feet below the tracks, in buildings near office blocks and on balconies of blocks of flats In contrast, most British residential blocks of flats were built by local authorities in the 1950s - 70s. The library building will be ripped down and replaced with a block of 29 sheltered accommodation flats and a new ground floor library. A five-storey block incorporating offices and flats will now go ahead following the decision by councillors last week. Members ignored officers' advice and said two three-storey blocks of flats would have an adverse impact on neighbouring homes through overdevelopment. Whether you opt for a single flat or whole block, though, choosing where to buy can require some careful research. The third phase will involve the demolition of three accommodation blocks to make room for two new ones. The church still stands, now surrounded by office buildings and blocks of flats, and looking rather small among its neighbours. I was disturbed that 2 office blocks and a block of flats have sprung up on what were empty spaces in a nearby town since I last went past a month ago. But now there are plans to knock down the 1960s building and put three blocks of flats in its place. Sportsmen and women will be accommodated mainly two to a room in 32 blocks in six student halls of residence. The scheme, which includes terraced homes and three-storey blocks of flats, has already been given permission in principle. We now have a ‘box’ (actually bag) recycling scheme in our block for textiles, paper, cardboard, glass and tins. There would be 182 one and two-bedroom flats separated into three four-storey blocks on the site. Terraces and higher blocks of residential with offices on lower storeys, with 10 acre park on podium. Now the firm has drawn up a new scheme for two seven-storey blocks of flats and a three-storey shopping and office complex. The apartments will be in two blocks separated by a newly - created close, continuing the use of The Old Fish Market Close. On the north, the block contains a wooden staircase to the gallery and terrace, and bath- and shower-rooms. Synonyms building, complex, structure, development 2.1with modifier A building or part of a complex used for a particular purpose. a cell block Example sentencesExamples The fire started in a manure heap on their farm, engulfed a trailer and looked set to spread along the stable block. It was not just a pure fun programme mind you, but the proceeds of this show will go for building of a sanitary block for the school. They walked inside the front entrance together and then went their separate ways to form rooms about two school blocks apart. But the school burned down and many classrooms and hostel blocks were completely destroyed. A new roof and heating system are among the priorities, as are upgraded toilet and shower blocks. They all have static caravans, some with their own showers - and if not, there are shower blocks. Meters have been re-connected in shower blocks. The blaze wrecked the school's offices, staff room, medical room and toilet block. The report concluded that a simple burning rag should not have led to a huge fire that involved the roofs of two separate blocks of the building. Fires were started during the disturbance and one of the accommodation blocks and the administration block were completely gutted. Block E is the smallest block and is located along the Eastern boundary, adjacent to the rear of the Courthouse. A women's centre and an urban prayer garden complete the Cathedral block. A new roof and boilers are needed, along with new toilet and shower blocks. The completion of the science block is not the end of developments at the School. There was a shower block for which you had to queue. The College has been granted planning permission to develop student housing blocks on their grounds. And then the area surrounding that, right from the edge of the stable block into the Botanic Gardens, has now been created into a very large roof space. Synonyms building, complex, structure, development 2.2North American The area bounded by four streets in a town or suburb. ours was the ugliest house on the block she went for a run around the block Example sentencesExamples One of the residents said the area's council blocks had been transformed since the project started. The Marines found that one out of every four city blocks contained a major weapons storage area. Regular maintenance of the street ended after three blocks and the area beyond looked rougher. This map does not register streets or blocks of houses, but consists of the sheer movements of real people. The family lives on a close-knit block in suburban Chicago. Now the former residents are being resettled in distant, high-rise residential blocks. Somebody's already started going around my block in an ice cream van - before the daffodils are even certain of themselves yet. Long lines of cars, taxis and buses coiled around city blocks and suburban streets. In particular, there is concern over several blocks along Fifth and Forbes Avenues in the center of town. There are five different Vinyl Japan stores in the same block, four if you don't count the house/dance music store. On the block where I lived, I remember seeing a young woman hunched over in pain, weeping hysterically. At the same time in DC, three intimidating looking black guys pulled up in front of a big house on a tree-lined block in a suburban neighborhood. The houses were arranged in blocks, with four houses to every side of a block. Just down the street from me, for example, there's a block with several boarded-up houses on it. As a result, he photographed and described street blocks and individual houses. As she shoved the note back into her book, the sound of several storm doors could be heard along the block as some of the late kids ran to catch the bus. The Trust owns about 70 percent of four blocks in that area. On the same block four months later, a construction worker renovating a house made a dreadful discovery. 2.3North American The length of one side of a town block, typically as a measure of distance. he lives a few blocks away from the museum Example sentencesExamples And the water can enter the system from an area three, four blocks, a mile away. It's five blocks to the mall in the opposite direction from the school, four blocks past my house. Broadway is a few blocks distant but worlds away from the cultural corridor along Grand Avenue. I'm pretty sure you can obtain all those things within 2 or 3 blocks along Melrose Blvd. in Hollywood. They could hear the noise from the crowd when they were a block away, along with the sounds of the band tuning up. She sat sullenly the last three blocks, tension mounting within her. Allie's house was only four blocks away so we decided to walk there. A vigil every 20 blocks for the whole length of Manhattan. Although the distance to the pool was only about the length of a short block, my feet felt as though they were about to fall off because they were so cold. A few arrests were made when protesters tried to break through barricades set up within two blocks of the Garden along the march route. We walked along the piers seven blocks then up the hill to the Pike Street Market. They walked up the four blocks to the coffee house. Interior hallways run nearly the length of a city block, and could have resembled an endless, generic motel corridor. In no time at all the said queue stretched the entire length of the block. I would never backpack or turn a somersault or jump to the ground from even the most modest height or run the length of half a block. Nora was walking down the street a couple of blocks away from my house. At about the same time, a few blocks from Mrs. Rider, a woman and her children awoke and began vomiting. She made her way to the corner store four blocks from her house. He had only seen her from a distance, from a block away, but that had been enough, and he was determined never to see her up close. I took this photo this morning on a street a couple of blocks from my house. 3A large quantity or allocation of things regarded as a unit. a block of shares as modifier block grants Example sentencesExamples You will most likely sleep in two hour blocks at completely random times throughout the day. The therapy involves undertaking six-week blocks of different exercises, spread over a year, with the aim of stimulating a part of the brain called the cerebellum. A block of 55,500 Petrol shares was sold at 14.31 and another 129,500 shares at 14.32. If he has completed his initial block, he keeps moving, looking for someone else to hit. The surgical suite allocates Dr Jones two eight-hour blocks per week to complete his elective cases. These spirals were three and four years long each, so for all intents and purposes they were blocks. These items were added as a block to the entire questionnaire. The expressions were ordered in a random way rather than in blocks of expressions with the same algebraic structure. Braille music uses the same system of raised dots on paper as standard Braille, with the top four dots in a block of six giving the note and the bottom two indicating its duration. All subjects completed five blocks of 15 learning trials. Each participant completed three blocks of 120 trials, one for each of the difficulty levels. Each block or placement is completed in a different facility. All of the participants completed both blocks with the order of completion counterbalanced across participants. Each subject completed 10 blocks of 10 practice trials. The order of presentation of these blocks was completely randomized across participants. Synonyms batch, group, cluster, set, section, quantity, series 3.1Computing A large piece of text processed as a unit. Example sentencesExamples The method is well suited for use in a microprocessor-based modem operating on blocks of data. Text messaging, which allows blocks of text up to 160 characters long to be sent, has been a huge success with 50 million being sent in Britain alone every day. When speaking about hypertext, it refers specifically to blocks of text connected by hyperlinks. Maybe you type the same blocks of text into your email messages thirty times a day. For example, one informant disliked scrolling to read columns and preferred page-wide blocks of text. 3.2 An unseparated unit of at least four postage stamps in at least two rows, generally a group of four. Example sentencesExamples Blocks of stamps from the edges of the original sheet or pane often include sections of the sheet's margin, which may have a wide variety of information. I would like to give you a little more information about the block of stamps I have up for sale. A beautiful new block of four U.S. stamps pays tribute to an amazing founding father in his roles as Statesman, Scientist, Printer and Postmaster. 4An obstacle to the normal progress or functioning of something. substantial demands for time off may constitute a block to career advancement an emotional block Example sentencesExamples It had just become too expensive (and was becoming a block to ‘free’ trade). The writing block that plagued him for years has started to lift. Indeed, I fear that serial co-habitation could actually be a block to marriage with parties becoming afraid of making the commitment. If you break the rules of existence, there's usually a block to progress until you have connected things. A high-profile civil case would mean lurid newspaper headlines and act as a block to any possibility of restarting a television career. Also, overcoming the obstacle of having these blocks put in the path - they're not willing to settle for less than what they're capable of doing. But you put up mental and emotional blocks around your mind. The result was ‘a writing block which went on for a long time, and I am sure it was because I was afraid to say what I wanted, what mattered to me’. Maybe he has a writing block because he doesn't smoke. The major problem that emerges is voltage leaks, which cause the chip to heat up considerably and ultimately put a block on progress. It goes to reinforce my jaded view that the media are a block to reasoned public debate, the open society, and education. Secondly a whole set of conditions have been placed on the developing world, many of which have been seen by campaigners and the nations themselves, as a block to necessary progress. I refuse to believe that the colour of my skin is a block to achieving whatever I want to be. The public system as a whole is seen as a block to that market. Synonyms obstacle, obstruction, bar, barrier, impediment, hindrance, check, hurdle, stumbling block blockage, obstruction, stoppage, stopping up, clot, occlusion 4.1 (in sports) a hindering or stopping of an opponent's movement or action. Example sentencesExamples A lot of this is developed on the playground where no real fouls are called and the shooters must alter their shot to avoid a block. Lunge, parry, head block… all the movements of sword fighting were familiar to her. He was the bulldozer for college football's most punishing running attack, with the pancake block being his trademark. When it comes to communicating the importance of a movement, a block, a play, or a game, Davis has few equals. Bell is usually the first one downfield on punts, fighting through blocks and disrupting the return. This also limits his ability to make downfield blocks on linebackers. Driver caught seven passes for 78 yards and executed several downfield blocks. Dilger doesn't hesitate to sell out on a block downfield or on the line. A sure-fire way to get beat is to be thinking about the last block rather than focusing on the next. He's not quick enough to defeat blocks in the run game to pursue backside running plays and is a liability in coverage. He is very good in space, whether it's pulling on wide plays or getting a downfield block. Moss, meanwhile, began running out every pattern, even when he was a decoy, and he started throwing blocks downfield. He can pull on running plays and screens and get downfield to throw a block. Wand has long arms, but he doesn't use them to his advantage to gain leverage and maintain blocks. As the two fighters once again clashed, their movements became faster and more intense with each block. His exceptional quickness and agility allow him to get downfield and make blocks at the second level of the defense. Miss a block and a teammate will be dealt a devastating blow. He is smart, quick and agile enough to make blocks downfield, but lacks the initial pop to be an outstanding guard. There's a flip side, though: One big shot or a great block will inspire this guy like no one else. He's a good athlete who has the ability to get downfield and make blocks. 4.2Tennis A shot in which the racket is held stationary rather than being swung back, especially a stop volley. Example sentencesExamples Young players are infatuated with rejecting a shot with a block, and they pay for it continuously. There is no swing, but a block from the shoulder without follow-through. 4.3 A chock for stopping the motion of a wheel. Example sentencesExamples Make sure you have a jack that will lift the trailer (with horses inside) or a wheel block to pull one trailer tire onto to get the other one off the ground. 5A flat area of something, especially a solid area of color. cover the eyelid with a neutral block of color Example sentencesExamples Turquoise with bright color blocks of red and yellow. Women don't want a block of colour, especially not black after all this mourning. It would look silly to draw the character as is; the background would be drawn too, and the character would be surrounded by a block of solid color. The ink of the fixing agent is subsequently overprinted on the above block of colour in the required image. This image has four blocks of colour dark green, burgundy, dark blue and light cyan used to adjust the colour settings of a computer monitor. The visual system of the tsetse fly is particularly sensitive to large blocks of contrasting color. 6A pulley or system of pulleys mounted in a case. Example sentencesExamples A block which moves downward is attached to a string which is wrapped around the pulley. It is a hoist for lifting appliances, and more specifically a block-and-pulley arrangement, or a block-and-tackle arrangement. It was here that he was awarded £17,000 by the government for the patent of his mechanical ships blocks. 7informal A person's head. “I'll knock your block off,” he said Example sentencesExamples He paid out a large sum of money to a number of his creditors because they had threatened to ‘knock his block off’ if he did not pay them. Which sides will win and which will get their blocks knocked off? That's where they get their blocks knocked off. verbblɑkbläk [with object] 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 Example sentencesExamples In those cases, the fuelers usually set up on a major road that was blocked off for fueling operations. Major roads were blocked off, threatening huge traffic disruption. But police radioed ahead and blocked off the narrow road with a police pick-up truck, finally bringing the Toyota to a stop. New Street was blocked off and police diverted traffic onto High Street. A portion of this tube may be causing you difficulty due to narrowing or a growth blocking the passage of food and liquids. We turned right and, sure enough, the road was blocked and the car park boarded off and derelict. The second trailer remained upright as the truck slid to the wrong side of the road, blocking the highway. A truck parked in the middle of the narrow street blocked the road. Emergency services were called and the road was blocked off. The road was blocked off and the 93 bus couldn't get through, so I caught another one which took me all around the houses, but it was still stuck in traffic. While allowing the bus stops in the road, care must be taken to avoid buses being parked right opposite to each other on busy roads and blocking entire flow of traffic. All the street was blocked off and there were so many people outside. A waste disposal lorry and a pick-up truck crashed on a narrow bridge, blocking a main road. She was blocking the road and cars behind her and in front of her were unable to move. ‘The parked cars block the road and leave nowhere for anyone to pull in,’ he said. As well as blocking the hospital drive there have been problems with cars blocking the road and parking in the driveways of houses. A group of young men hanging out in the middle of the road blocked her passage. They cannot risk the frequent delivery delays that occur when the motorway is blocked by road works or accidents. They literally bulldozed aside the police cars blocking the road. The truck was greeted at the end of the approach road by a number of tractors which blocked the passage and proceeded slowly along the two mile journey. Synonyms clog, clog up, stop up, choke, plug, obstruct, gum up, occlude, dam up, congest, jam, close close up, bar, obstruct, shut off, barricade, seal 1.1 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 Example sentencesExamples Under the ancien régime these two powerful groups had often blocked princely attempts to rationalize and centralize the administration. New temporary barriers have been installed to block any other attempts by vehicles to cross the bridge. The management has consistently refused to grant concessions on economic issues and has worked to block attempts at employee organization. Government officials, knowing that the findings would likely be negative and fearful that they would leak, blocked the effort. Opposition Conservative MPs blocked an attempt by the government to fine the companies $250,000 a day for contempt of Parliament. But this Council finds the idea distasteful and is blocking every attempt to find a suitable location. Known as ‘the nuclear option’, the Democrats blocked the attempt. His replacement as senior consultant blocks an attempt for him to be awarded emeritus status. Can you blame the Senate blocking his half-baked attempts at policy formulation? The company initially tried to block attempts by this newspaper last week to inspect parts of its shareholder register, a public document. Given they both own more than 25% of shares, either side could block a takeover attempt by the other. But when injuries are less obvious or workers seem uncooperative, companies often block every attempt to seek benefits. Fortunately I think our firewall had been blocking the access attempts, but the popup ads were still happening. She was overjoyed at this but as she tried to merge with it something powerful blocked her attempts. The army sent out a force of sixty men to retrieve him but the attempt was blocked and the group was surrounded by the Apaches. First, they block unauthorized attempts to reach and then damage or take control of your system. She heard him curse softly and then he shifted his wait, effectively blocking her attempt at freedom. Synonyms hinder, hamper, obstruct, impede, inhibit, check, arrest, restrict, limit, deter, curb, interrupt 1.2 Restrict the use or conversion of (currency or any other asset). Example sentencesExamples The U.S. has rallied 120 nations to block assets of suspected terrorist groups. Over the weekend, legislators passed a law blocking access for three years to hard currency held in high-interest accounts with the country's two state banks. By building up a sizeable stake they will control enough equity in the company to block a compulsory takeover by another bidder. In his evidence, he said that if the acquisition was blocked, it would have been a waste of a ‘tremendous amount of time and energy’. This has been blamed for blocking overseas-bound investment by mainland enterprises. Foreign financial institutions are required to block the funds and assets of such groups. In such circumstances, post-merger performance in the relevant market may be no worse than market performance had the merger been blocked and the assets left the market. 1.3 (in sports) hinder or stop the movement or action of (an opponent, a ball, etc.). Example sentencesExamples He has such explosive leaping ability he can block anyone's shot. Every single one of his intended blows was blocked and parried, even when the man tripped and fell backwards. There is some skill required, as you want to rearrange the cards in order to block your opponent from gaining points. He could block opponents, he could kick, he could pass. Boxers need to move quickly in the ring, block or avoid their opponent's blows, get past his guard and then hit with power. I don't believe in trying to force a technique that an opponent is blocking - that is just a waste of energy. Two shots were blocked but the ball eventually fell to Chambers who slotted it into the far corner. He is a very good athlete who can block shots and has a good shooting stroke. There are a ton of punch combinations and you'll need to learn the art of blocking as well, since it could mean the difference during a bout in the ring. He brought his stave up and I quickly dropped my left hand, dealing him a one-handed blow on the side off his arm before bringing my own stave up to block his blow. Of course it's best if you can block another opponent while advancing yourself at the same time. He showed her techniques on how to block or attack the opponent. Synonyms parry, stop, defend against, fend off, stave off, turn aside, deflect, hold off, avert, repel, rebuff, repulse, hold at bay, keep at bay 1.4Bridge Play in such a way that an opponent cannot establish (a long suit). Example sentencesExamples They also block the discard pile for the opponents when discarded. A common mistake by beginners is that when your best suit proves to be blocked by the opponent to switch and try each other suit in turn. Often, however, you cannot take the discard pile because you are blocked by a black three discarded by your right hand opponent. Black threes can be discarded, and block the next player from taking the pile. 1.5Medicine Produce insensibility in (a part of the body) by injecting an anesthetic close to the nerves that supply it. Example sentencesExamples Genistein, found in soybeans, has the ability to literally starve tumors to death by blocking their blood supply. Pinching the skin stimulates local sensory nerves, partially blocking the transmission of other painful stimuli. The gene would still be there, but the drug blocks the body from turning on the disease process. Local anesthetic agents block pain transmission by interfering with nerve cell depolarization of peripheral pain fibers. This is a condition in which the optic nerve sustains damage because its blood supply is blocked. 2Impress text or a design on (a book cover). Example sentencesExamples Original blue cloth, spine lettered and blocked in gold. Original pale green linen, blocked in an orange-red and black pictorial design on the upper cover. 3Shape or reshape (a hat) using a wooden mold. Example sentencesExamples He is well cast and carries the part like a well blocked hat, (though his own hat sometimes got the better of him). It's going to need a pretty firm hand to block it to shape. 4Design or plan the movements of actors on a stage or movie set. Example sentencesExamples Stylistically, the writing takes some mature risks, and both actresses are uninhibited and bold enough to carry those words through some playful blocking. Konarak strums his guitar before a shamiana where the actors block their moves, test their lines. The stage version clearly needs blocking as there is a limited space on which to do the entire show. But, in stage blocking, you have to remember where you are for the entire three hours that the show runs. He has added a rehearsal studio to his home, which he and cast-mates recently used to choreograph and block their moves Generally, I ‘block’ the show in my head prior to rehearsal. Phrases have been around the block (a few times) informal (of a person) have a lot of experience. Example sentencesExamples Many new breakthrough artists flung into the scene providing steady competition for the bands that have been around the block and back. The well-publicised shenanigans of his past prove that he is far from an innocent, but while this man may have been around the block a few times, there remains endearing childlike qualities. I am educated and well-bred, but I have been around the block a few times. Hey, it's all about experience, really, and he's been around the block a few times. Whatever the reasons, both men ended up sleeping in a strange city and trying to grapple with the expectations of experienced hosts who have been around the block quite a few times. You might say Nick has been around the block once or twice when it comes to online culture and community. Though 25 years his junior, Ethel gives off the aura of having been around the block a few times. But, these lads have been around the block a few times and, fair play to them, they showed a lot of resolve to bite the bullet and come good. We add an element of showbiz that probably comes from my experience of being in bands and having been around the block a few times. ‘You don't have the feeling that you have to prove something when you have been around the block a few times,’ he says. the new kid on the block informal A newcomer to a particular place or sphere of activity, typically someone who has yet to prove themselves. Example sentencesExamples With too many clubs and not enough punters we had an uphill battle to fill a 3000 + capacity venue, especially when we were the new kids on the block. But, while the club may be the new kids on the block, they are not wet behind the ears and refuse to take anything for granted or be drawn into rash predictions. Forget, all the new kids on the block, few of them are fit enough to even hand him the microphone on stage. Then you have the new kids on the block where one good performance may elevate them to the top of the heap. ‘They are the new kids on the block and could veto this constitution before they even become a member of the union,’ said one diplomat. In more than one sense, they're the new kids on the block - a marketing approach that yields benefits and drawbacks. With the new kids on the block, cooking is less about the food you eat than the friends you invite around for dinner. Hearing these thirteen lads sing though, you would have no idea that they're new kids on the block. We're the new kids on the block in the central belt, which has brought a surge of interest among potential recruits. India and China, he says, are the new kids on the block and will outperform the rest of the world because they have whole-heartedly absorbed the new mantra of globalisation. Synonyms novice, starter, learner, student, pupil, trainee, apprentice, probationer on the (auction) block For sale at auction. the original first manuscript for Ravel's Bolero goes on the block today figurative the company put its subsidiary on the block because it did not fit its core business interests Example sentencesExamples Some owners have a habit of running in with their unpaid taxes paid up minutes before their property goes on the block. The services of the celebrity painter commanded two winning bids of $25,000 to top a series of unique experiences offered on the auction block. At the same time, some of his designs are on the block at an auction in Chicago. Competitors try to drive down the price of policies on the auction block with whispers of whiskey-soaked college days and unconfirmed reports of compromising photos. And it likely would go on the auction block again. It would put the presidency right back on the auction block. According to the local paper, the company headquarters - built in 2003 for $12 million - is up on the auction block. The studio is placing props from the film on the block at their online auction house. put (or lay) one's head (or neck) on the block informal Put one's standing or reputation at risk by proceeding with a particular course of action. Example sentencesExamples ‘I know what I'm talking about because I've been there, so I don't mind putting my neck on the block, ‘he says.’ One thing about the previous commissioner is that he was not afraid to put his neck on the block and say what he believed. If it's not, I will be putting my head on the block again. And some people can get a little bit nervous about that because they think they're walking the long mile to put their head on the block, which is wrong. I don't want to put my head on the block and say that we will win. But I'd have to to be totally sure that I was on to a winner before putting my head on the block - watched by half the world. ‘You can't be the scapegoat if you decide yourself to put your head on the block,’ he said. Councillors often have to make difficult decisions, often putting their head on the block. It's a very special boss who puts his head on the block for anyone. I've already put my neck on the block and said there is plenty of fish to be had. Phrasal Verbs block something in 1Mark something out roughly. Example sentencesExamples I've learned it's best to roughly block everything in first so you can see where everything is going as a whole. I start off by blocking in large shapes, value, and color. Synonyms outline, trace, draw the lines of, draw, sketch, block in, mark, mark off, mark out, delimit, mark the boundaries of, mark the limits of 1.1Add something in a unit. it's a good idea to block in regular periods of exercise Example sentencesExamples Within your schedule, dont forget to block in time for meals and rest. She now starts every week by blocking in time for. these priorities first, no matter how busy she feels. It is strongly recommended that trainees be prepared to block in a 24-week period and make the training a top priority in order to receive maximum benefit from the training. 1.2Paint something with solid areas of color. Example sentencesExamples It starts with a ‘poster study’ of blocked-in areas of color I blocked in my background colour with a nice aqua green. When you look at her pastels there seems to be a painterly quality almost completely lacking from her earlier paintings which are either coloured sketches or blocked in areas of flat colour. Synonyms darken, colour in, pencil in, block in, fill in 2Park one's car in such a way as to prevent another car from moving away. he blocked in Vera's minivan Example sentencesExamples They stopped a vehicle in the 20600-block of 48th Street, blocking it in. Once the singer had parked her car in a garage the show's team leapt into action blocking her car in with one of their own. However, as there is such pressure on parking here, many use our car park without permission with the consequence that funerals and weddings can be blocked in. If you are parking your caravan up for the winter, block it in with other vehicles or park it in such a way that thieves will not be able to tow it away easily. Their vehicle was rammed by one of the jeeps, despite the fact it was blocked in by another media vehicle and unable to move. They are a remarkably cheery bunch, even when their wagons are blocked in back lanes by stupidly parked cars, causing them to reverse for 50 yards or more with barely an inch on either side. I would ask drivers how they would feel if they were prevented from going to work, doing their shopping or visiting friends by cars parked across their drive or blocking their car in the street. Hence they have no hesitation in parking across another car thereby blocking it in, because ‘They will just be a minute.’ Eastwood Park has an entrance at the end of Park Avenue and cars have been parking along the small road, obstructing access and blocking residents in. When they blocked the car in, they discovered that there was indeed a driver, but he couldn't see very well over the dashboard, as he was only 8 years old. block something out 1Stop something such as light or noise from reaching somewhere. you're blocking out my sun Example sentencesExamples I usually just block such noises out because in the city there's always some lunatic running around shouting things but for some reason I ran to the cry for help. Tony is talking, while Davy is trying to block the noise out with his pillow. We stopped at 3am, when the cloud cover finally blocked them out. According to this watch it's only 2:17 pm but there's almost no natural light whatsoever; the sun is blocked out completely by low-hung clouds of industrial smog. The house is going to block the sunlight out of our south facing gardens. I keep trying to block his voice out of my head, but I can't stop it all the time. Dr Brown said: ‘The sun appears so small from that distance that you could completely block it out with the head of a pin.’ I groaned, grabbing my pillow and placing it over my ears, blocking all noise out. I have always been really aware of fires and I knew to shut the door to block the fire out. Synonyms conceal, hide, screen, keep out, blot out, exclude 1.1Exclude something unpleasant from one's thoughts or memory. Example sentencesExamples He tried to block those memories out, but he couldn't in his nearly unconscious state. Eva bit her lip and tried to block it out of her memory, but it was no use. Eventually though he managed to block them out and catch some much needed sleep. I sighed, wondering why I had chosen to block the memories out in the first place. They could wind up so traumatized by their actions that blocking the incident out could be their only option. Maybe we're just blocking it out like a bad memory or premonition. Synonyms conceal, hide, screen, keep out, blot out, exclude 2Mark or sketch something out roughly. Example sentencesExamples Sometimes, I'll start right on the computer and then have to slow down and block things out on paper to sort things out. I write it down on my steno pad when the idea comes to me, and more or less block it out on paper first. I designed it by blocking it out on a ‘clean sheet’ using an architect's program. The image is first blocked out and then carved away to create very beautiful and amazing designs and patterns. Synonyms rough, rough out, sketch out, trace out, outline, set out, lay out, delineate, draft Origin Middle English (denoting a log or tree stump): from Old French bloc (noun), bloquer (verb), from Middle Dutch blok, of unknown ultimate origin. noun.1 phr. phr.v.
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