occlusion

American  

[uh-kloo-zhuhn] / əˈklu ʒən /

noun

1. the act of closing, blocking, or shutting something, or the state of being closed or blocked.

   Corrosion may cause both leakage and occlusion of the water supply pipes.

2. Dentistry. the fitting together of the teeth of the lower jaw with the corresponding teeth of the upper jaw when the jaws are closed.

3. Pathology. closure or blockage of a blood vessel.

   coronary occlusion.

4. Phonetics. momentary complete closure at some area in the vocal tract, causing stoppage of the flow of air and accumulation of pressure: many consonants in English, as /b/ and /k/, are articulated this way.

5. Meteorology.

   1. an occluded front.

   2. the formation of an occluded front.

6. Graphic Arts. an obstructed view, or occultation, of an object in three-dimensional space when line of sight is blocked by an intervening object.

   Augmented reality is only believable if rendered models respect occlusion and disappear behind real-world objects.

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occlusion British  

/ əˈkluːsəl, əˈkluːʒən /

noun

1. the act or process of occluding or the state of being occluded

2. meteorol another term for occluded front

3. dentistry the normal position of the teeth when the jaws are closed

4. phonetics the complete closure of the vocal tract at some point, as in the closure prior to the articulation of a plosive

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occlusion Scientific  

/ ə-klo̅o̅′zhən /

1. An obstruction in a passageway, especially of the body.

2. The alignment of the upper and lower sets of teeth with each other.

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Other Word Forms

• nonocclusion noun
• occlusal adjective
• preocclusion noun

Etymology

Origin of occlusion

First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin occlūs(us) (past participle of occlūdere “to close up, shut”) + -ion; occlude

Explanation

Occlusion is either the act of blocking something or a specific blockage. There can be occlusions blocking the street or your arteries. When dentists say occlusion, they’re talking about what your teeth look like when your mouth is closed. An occlusion blocks anything that flows, like cars, people, water, or blood. You can say there's occlusion if a pipe is clogged. If you find out a golf ball was in the pipe, the ball was an occlusion. This word applies to things that block and the act of blocking. People have heart attacks when there's occlusion in their arteries. An overturned truck would be an occlusion on the highway. Occlusions are in the way.

Example Sentences

"But if we can see the ultrasound finding, we can target the exact place where the occlusion occurs."

From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025

The drugmaker said the Food and Drug Administration had approved Eylea HD for the treatment of patients with macular edema following retinal vein occlusion, a common cause of vision impairment in adults.

From Barron's • Nov. 20, 2025

The occlusion of small lung arteries is the major reason for the reduction in blood flow in patients with acute pulmonary embolism.

From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2023

Similar systems of occlusion and erasure are at work 150 years later in the current hype around AI.

From Salon • May 30, 2023

He said death was caused by a left coronary occlusion, which is a heart attack via a blood clot.

From Through these Eyes The courageous struggle to find meaning in a life stressed with cancer by Isaacson, Lauren Ann