blockade
Americannoun
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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.
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any obstruction of passage or progress.
We had difficulty in getting through the blockade of bodyguards.
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Pathology. interruption or inhibition of a normal physiological signal, as a nerve impulse or a heart muscle–contraction impulse.
verb (used with object)
noun
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military the interdiction of a nation's sea lines of communications, esp of an individual port by the use of sea power
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something that prevents access or progress
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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
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to impose a blockade on
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to obstruct the way to
Synonym Usage
See siege.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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blockadernoun
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counterblockadenoun
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preblockadenoun
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nonblockadedadjective
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problockadeadjective
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unblockadedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blockadesimple
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blockadessimple
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have blockadedperfect
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has blockadedperfect
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am blockadingprogressive
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are blockadingprogressive
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is blockadingprogressive
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have been blockadingperfect progressive
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has been blockadingperfect progressive
Past
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blockadedsimple
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had blockadedperfect
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was blockadingprogressive
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were blockadingprogressive
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had been blockadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blockade
1670–80; block (in the sense “to create obstacles”) + -ade 1
Explanation
A blockade is an obstacle that stands between you and something you're trying to reach. After a robbery, police might set up a blockade around the neighborhood to catch the thief. Anything that impedes or halts progress is a blockade. If you join the military, you might find yourself building a blockade to confine your enemies and isolate them from the outside world. If you think of the root of this word, block, then you've pretty much got the meaning right there. If you don't want your little sister to disturb the house of cards you're building in my room, you can take lots of pillows and make a fort to use as a blockade to keep her from wandering in and knocking everything over.
Vocabulary lists containing blockade
The American Civil War
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The American Revolution - Introductory
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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.
See Examples For:
That blockade centered on the Bab al Mandeb strait, the only southbound route for Saudi tankers headed to Asian markets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Andreas Krieg, a security expert at King's College London, said: "A simultaneous crisis at Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb would produce a much larger shock than either blockade alone".
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The day before the Houthis announced their blockade, 20 vessels entered the Red Sea and 22 exited via the Bab al-Mandeb strait, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
If the Houthi blockade catches up more than Saudi ships, crossings could fall even further, Kpler analysts said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
As the blockade of Germany caused increasing misery, a new German naval commander, Admiral Reinhard Scheer, lost patience.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Kirchner, one of them, wanted to engage in acts of civil disobedience, such as blockades of OpenAI’s offices, to bring more attention to the cause, according to Elmore and others in the group.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
The only blockades left are here in the Tropics of Cochabamba, which is highly disciplined.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
The blockades, led by miners, farmers and indigenous groups, are part of protests which started at the end of April.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
He backed a law paving the way for a state of emergency which would authorize military deployment to repress the movement and clear the blockades.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
She wasn’t sure what the mosasaurus was capable of, though she’d heard of them being used to ram warships during the naval blockades down south.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
Iran has blockaded the waterway since the war began.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
A pipeline from the oilfields of Abu Dhabi runs to Fujairah, allowing limited amounts of crude to be loaded on to tankers and shipped to world markets despite the strait being effectively blockaded.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
Only 40% of Iran’s trade can be redirected away from blockaded ports, the Iranian Shipping Association said Thursday via the Fars news agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s security services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Iran has blockaded Hormuz, cutting off flows of oil, gas and fertiliser and sending prices soaring, raising fears of food insecurity in developing countries.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
The 101st Long Range Air Regiment, as well as bombing, helped bring supplies by air to the blockaded and starving city of Leningrad.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
ICE reported a half-dozen arrests outside the facility after masked agents used force against protestors who they said were blockading the entrances to the facility.
From Salon ● May 30, 2026
"I don't understand how blockading the strait is going to somehow push the Iranians into opening it. I don't get the connection there."
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
"I don't understand how blockading the strait is going to somehow push the Iranians into opening it," Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN on Sunday.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
The blockading of "critical national infrastructure" had "resulted in fuel shortages that are directly impacting on emergency services such as hospitals, the ambulance service, and the fire service", he said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
The British believed that by blockading German shipping lanes and seaports, they could starve Germany into submission.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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.
