chock

[ chok ]
See synonyms for: chockchockedchockingchocks on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a wedge or block of wood, metal, or the like, for filling in a space, holding an object steady, etc.

  2. Nautical.

    • any of various heavy metal fittings on a deck or wharf that serve as fairleads for cables or chains.

    • a shaped support or cradle for a ship's boat, barrel, etc.

    • a small wooden piece or timber for filling a gap, reinforcing an angle, etc., in a wooden vessel.

  1. Metalworking. a bearing supporting the end of a rolling mill.

  2. Mining. a roof support made of cribbing filled with stones.: Compare cog3 (def. 2).

verb (used with object)
  1. to furnish with or secure by a chock or chocks.

  2. Nautical. to place (a boat) upon chocks.

adverb
  1. as close or tight as possible: chock against the edge.

Origin of chock

1
Middle English <Anglo-French choque (compare modern Picard choke big log, Normandy dial. chouque), Old French çoche (French soche); of uncertain origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chock in a sentence

  • He floundered out in mighty jumps and came swinging along the shore, chocking and grunting fiercely.

    Wood Folk at School | William J. Long

British Dictionary definitions for chock

chock

/ (tʃɒk) /


noun
  1. a block or wedge of wood used to prevent the sliding or rolling of a heavy object

  2. nautical

    • a fairlead consisting of a ringlike device with an opening at the top through which a rope is placed

    • a cradle-like support for a boat, barrel, etc

  1. mountaineering See nut (def. 10)

verb(tr)
  1. (usually foll by up) British to cram full: chocked up with newspapers

  2. to fit with or secure by a chock

  1. to support (a boat, barrel, etc) on chocks

adverb
  1. as closely or tightly as possible: chock against the wall

Origin of chock

1
C17: of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Old French çoche log; compare Provençal soca tree stump

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012