occlude

American  

[uh-klood] / əˈklud /

verb (used with object)

• occludes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• occluded,
  past participle,  past
• occluding
  present participle

1. to close, shut, or stop up (a passage, opening, etc.).

   Synonyms:

   plug, block, clog, obstruct

2. to shut in, out, or off.

3. Physical Chemistry. (of certain metals and other solids) to incorporate (gases and other foreign substances), as by absorption or adsorption.

---

verb (used without object)

• occludes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• occluded,
  past participle,  past
• occluding
  present participle

1. Dentistry. to shut or close, with the cusps of the opposing teeth of the upper and lower jaws fitting together.

2. Meteorology. to form an occluded front.

occlude British  

/ əˈkluːd /

verb

1. (tr) to block or stop up (a passage or opening); obstruct

2. (tr) to prevent the passage of

3. (tr) chem (of a solid) to incorporate (a substance) by absorption or adsorption

4. meteorol to form or cause to form an occluded front

5. dentistry to produce or cause to produce occlusion, as in chewing

---

occlude Scientific  

/ ə-klo̅o̅d′ /

1. To force air upward from the Earth's surface, as when a cold front overtakes and undercuts a warm front.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• occludent
  adjective
• unoccluded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• occluding
  present
• occluded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• occlude
  simple
• occludes
  simple
• have occluded
  perfect
• has occluded
  perfect
• am occluding
  progressive
• are occluding
  progressive
• is occluding
  progressive
• have been occluding
  perfect progressive
• has been occluding
  perfect progressive

Past

• occluded
  simple
• had occluded
  perfect
• was occluding
  progressive
• were occluding
  progressive
• had been occluding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will occlude
  simple
• will have occluded
  perfect
• will be occluding
  progressive
• will have been occluding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of occlude

1590–1600; < Latin occlūdere to shut up, close up, equivalent to oc- oc- + -clūdere, combining form of claudere to close

Explanation

Occlude means to obstruct, as with an opening. You hear this a lot in a medical context. Heart surgeons are looking for occlusions in blood vessels — things that occlude the flow of blood. Occlude does not exist only in a medical context. If you close the bathroom door so your little brother won't come in while you're trying out makeup with your friends, you're occluding the bathroom. Meanwhile, your makeup occludes your pores.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

occlude occludes occluded occluding

To improve this, Dr Alexander suggests reducing headphone use time and using the transparency mode which can amplify the background noise as well as wearing headphones that don't completely occlude or block the ears.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2025

It would lead to voter confusion, especially since clerks would inevitably place some stickers a few centimeters off by accident, failing to fully occlude Kennedy’s name and accidentally blocking out another.

From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2024

Such clouds are why the star count methods failed: From almost any viewpoint in the galaxy, they would occlude your line of sight and produce the illusion of gazing out from near the center.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 4, 2023

That’s particularly the case for atrocity photos, since the universality of bodily suffering tends to occlude politics.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 9, 2014

He realized, however, that the edema and false membrane would force their way around the wires, and so gradually occlude the throat passage in spite of the presence of the spring.

From Makers of Modern Medicine by Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)

It’s also not feminist because it occludes the men who were killed based on the same lies.

From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2023

But I also think that the focus on Florida occludes a bigger story.

From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2023

Framing major domestic disasters through the lens of war occludes a role for civilians on the front line, displacing them from our national narratives.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2022

Finally, it occludes the extent to which history doesn’t repeat itself but does rhyme.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 25, 2018

The pressure of the effused blood occludes the veins and leads to congestion and œdema of the limb beyond.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Thomson, Alexis

Ms. Kiri, who is on camera almost nonstop and is in close-up much of the time, expertly holds our attention as her character’s skepticism about the paranormal world becomes increasingly occluded by worry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

Just a few rows back from the front of the stage, I watched as patches of brown, well-trodden grass — once largely visible minutes earlier — became steadily occluded by hundreds of feet.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2024

When one eye of the mouse is occluded for several days, the visual cortex starts to respond less effectively to the closed eye and better to the open eye.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2023

At the intersection, visibility is occluded by buildings, and it’s not possible to see objects around a corner until they are very close to the intersection, Dietrerich’s statement said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 19, 2023

I wished still to cry, and attempted it again; and once again, my effort failed, all tears occluded.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

This image was taken by JWST’s NIRCam, allowing it to capture previously hidden features within and behind the occluding dust.

From Scientific American ● Jul. 21, 2022

His team beat Oklahoma, 21-14, in the Sugar Bowl national title game Jan. 4, 2004, and it was a matter of labor occluding art rather than today’s splashy fashion of art occluding labor.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2021

We know objectively how much the ornaments overwhelm the tree, but we don’t really grasp it until we try and look at the tree without the occluding ornaments.

From The New Yorker ● Feb. 8, 2016

Problems are addressed with great fanfare, occluding whether the fanfare presents a solution at all.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 5, 2014

But deep in the fields the brownish stalks rise from the earth to more than twice her height, occluding her vision.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García