blockade

[ blo-keyd ]
See synonyms for blockade on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the isolating, closing off, or surrounding of a place, as a port, harbor, or city, by hostile ships or troops to prevent entrance or exit.

  2. any obstruction of passage or progress: We had difficulty in getting through the blockade of bodyguards.

  1. Pathology. interruption or inhibition of a normal physiological signal, as a nerve impulse or a heart muscle–contraction impulse.

verb (used with object),block·ad·ed, block·ad·ing.
  1. to subject to a blockade.

Origin of blockade

1
1670–80; block (in the sense “to create obstacles”) + -ade1

synonym study For blockade

1. See siege.

Other words from blockade

  • block·ad·er, noun
  • coun·ter·block·ade, noun, verb, coun·ter·block·ad·ed, coun·ter·block·ad·ing.
  • non·block·ad·ed, adjective
  • pre·block·ade, noun, verb (used with object), pre·block·ad·ed, pre·block·ad·ing.
  • pro·block·ade, adjective
  • un·block·ad·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blockade in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for blockade

blockade

/ (blɒˈkeɪd) /


noun
  1. military the interdiction of a nation's sea lines of communications, esp of an individual port by the use of sea power

  2. something that prevents access or progress

  1. med the inhibition of the effect of a hormone or a drug, a transport system, or the action of a nerve by a drug

verb(tr)
  1. to impose a blockade on

  2. to obstruct the way to

Origin of blockade

1
C17: from block + -ade, as in ambuscade

Derived forms of blockade

  • blockader, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012