blockade

[blo-keyd]

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.

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

verb (used with object)

blockaded, blockading 

1. to subject to a 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

3. 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

1. to impose a blockade on

2. to obstruct the way to

Other Word Forms

• blockader noun
• counterblockade noun
• nonblockaded adjective
• preblockade noun
• problockade adjective
• unblockaded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of blockade¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of blockade¹

C17: from _block + -ade , as in _ambuscade

Synonym Study

See siege.

Example Sentences

A highly publicised sweep starting in February saw around 7,000 alleged scammers repatriated and Thailand enact a cross-border internet blockade.

Read more on Barron's

There, Horace Hunley and his partners intended to operate the submarine as a privateer, helping the Confederacy break the blockade the North had placed on Southern ports.

Read more on Literature

The west African nation's ruling junta is locked in an ongoing battle against jihadists, who recently started a fuel blockade on the country while extending their influence across a large swathe of territory.

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Speaking to lawmakers in parliament on Nov. 7, Takaichi said that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own, would threaten Japan’s survival.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But the two countries are also nervously watching Algeria's southwestern neighbour Mali, which has been hit by a jihadist blockade.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• barricade 
• closure 
• encirclement www.thesaurus.com
• restriction 
• roadblock 
• siege 
• stoppage