blocking
Americannoun
noun
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electronics the interruption of anode current in a valve because of the application of a high negative voltage to the grid
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internal congestion in a communication system that prevents the transmission of information
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of blocking
Explanation
When you obstruct someone from seeing or doing something, that's blocking. In most sports, blocking your opponent is a huge part of playing the game. Blocking the player who's trying to make a basket is one kind of blocking. There's also blocking a street for the neighborhood block party, or blocking your ex-friend on social media. In each case, you're cutting off access in some way. In theater, the word takes on a different meaning, "the staging of actors." This use stems from the 19th-century theater, when directors would frequently use wooden blocks to plan out the actors' positions on a miniature stage.
Vocabulary lists containing blocking
Academic and Literary Vocabulary, Unit 2
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Academic Vocabulary and Literary Terms, Unit 5
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The Black Girl Survives in This One
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To make the system less dysfunctional, California could restrict localities from blocking transit, just like it did with housing, Schank said, on the basis it is a critical need.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
He told me he had been annoyed at the No Kings protesters blocking traffic, but he was glad Gamble had been acquitted.
From Slate • May 4, 2026
Immunotherapy works by blocking the signal allowing those cancer cells to be more easily recognised and destroyed.
From BBC • May 3, 2026
Some were zombie unions: long inactive in practice but still recognized on paper as the exclusive legal representative, blocking workers from going anywhere else.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026
With a few clucks and some skillful handling of the reins, he urged the horse to pull their carriage sideways, blocking the way.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
