blocknoun
uk/blɒk/us/blɑːk/block noun (AREA)
A2 [ C ] mainly US the distance along a street from where one road crosses it to the place where the next road crosses it, or one part of a street like this, especially in a town or city:
A2 [ C ] a square group of buildings or houses with roads on each side:
on the next street that crosses this street:
More examples
- The queue for tickets snaked all the way around the block.
- He went for/took a walk around the block, to get some air.
- She drove the car round the block to charge (up) its batteries.
- She likes to roll out the welcome wagon for everyone who moves onto the block.
- He was found slain in an alley two blocks from his apartment.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Towns & regions: areas in towns & cities
- arrondissement
- backstreets
- barrio
- botanic garden
- concrete jungle
- council estate
- dormitory suburb
- estate
- exurb
- ghetto
- housing estate
- inner city
- precinct
- red-light district
- slum
- Speakers' Corner
- suburbia
- the outskirts
- town
- trading estate
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block noun (PIECE)
B2 [ C ] a solid, straight-sided piece of hard material:
(in the past) a large piece of wood on which criminals had their head cut off:
More examples
- a 200 kilo block of concrete
- They cut enormous blocks of stone out of the hillside.
- The blocks of stone had to be lifted into position with a system of pulleys.
- When a glacier meets the sea, large blocks of ice may break off and float away as icebergs.
- Hollow blocks are used because they are lighter.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Masses and large amounts of things
- accumulation
- an embarrassment of riches idiom
- any number of things idiom
- backlog
- battery
- boatload
- bolus
- clot
- deluge
- fund
- lashing
- lather
- outpouring
- panoply
- plethora
- predominance
- preponderance
- shower
- sight
- thousand
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block noun (BUILDING)
B1 [ C ] a large, usually tall building divided into separate parts for use as offices or homes by several different organizations or people:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Buildings in general
- -bedroomed
- building
- castellated
- construction
- convention centre
- edifice
- geodesic dome
- half-timbered
- heritage-listed building
- high-rise
- landmark
- multistorey
- newbuild
- Norman
- palatial
- Portakabin
- structure
- tower
- turret
- warren
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block noun (GROUP)
[ C ] a group of things bought, dealt with, or considered together:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Groups and collections of things
- agglomeration
- Aladdin's cave
- anthology
- assemblage
- bank
- basket
- empty set
- ensemble
- feast
- generation
- glory box
- grab bag
- package
- pool
- portfolio
- selection
- sheaf
- sheaves
- subgroup
- vintage
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block noun (OBJECT BLOCKING)
C2 [ C usually singular ] something that blocks a tube or opening:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Closing and blocking
- barricade
- batten
- batten down the hatches idiom
- block sth off
- block sth up
- cork
- dam
- dam sth up
- ensconce
- ensconced
- gum
- gum sth up
- jam
- seal
- shut (sth) off
- shut sb/sth out
- shutter
- silt (sth) up
- snap
- the darkest hour is just before the dawn idiom
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Idiom(s)
blockverb [ T ]
uk/blɒk/us/blɑːk/B2 to prevent movement through something:
C1 to be between someone and the thing they are looking at, so that they cannot see:
C2 to stop something from happening or succeeding:
More examples
- In theory the British government could use its veto to block this proposal.
- The road is open now, but it is often blocked by snow in the winter.
- The dense foliage overhead almost blocked out the sun.
- From the smell it was evident that the drains had been blocked for several days.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Preventing and impeding
- avert
- avoid
- avoidable
- bar
- be a drag on sb/sth idiom
- block sth out
- bottleneck
- derail
- fireproof
- hold out on sb
- hold sb/sth back
- hold/keep sb/sth at bay idiom
- holding pattern
- impede
- prevention
- prevention is better than cure idiom
- preventive
- prohibit
- pull
- scuttle
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