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

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in Mali's capital a month after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a fuel blockade by attacking tankers on major highways.

Read more on BBC

Their public statements have expressed horror over the killing and destruction in Gaza, and the starvation and in places famine caused by Israel's blockades of aid.

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Macron said on Thursday that he was ready to suspend plans to ratify the bill in late June if protesters swiftly dismantle road blockades that have crippled New Caledonia’s economy.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The challenge of steeling Taiwan against a blockade starts with energy, in particular the liquefied natural gas used to generate nearly half of Taiwan’s electricity.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A Chinese blockade would quickly deplete resources on an island that depends on imported fuel.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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