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
Related Words
See siege.
Other Word Forms
- blockader noun
- counterblockade noun
- nonblockaded adjective
- preblockade noun
- problockade adjective
- unblockaded adjective
Etymology
Origin of blockade
1670–80; block (in the sense “to create obstacles”) + -ade 1
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.
Their status as a safe haven asset in times of turmoil has also added to their allure amid geopolitical upheaval with US strikes in Nigeria and a blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers.
From Barron's
The Bella 1, an oil tanker far larger than any Coast Guard ship, has been fleeing the U.S. blockade of sanctioned vessels heading in and out of Venezuela.
The new law carries prison terms of 15 to 20 years for people promoting or supporting such blockades, or fines of over a million dollars.
From Barron's
That would be the third tanker subject to interception under the blockade.
From Los Angeles Times
The Coast Guard has taken the lead on the seizures so far, indicating that the actions are a law-enforcement operation rather than a military blockade.
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.
