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
• preocclusion
  noun
• occlusal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of occlusion

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

See Examples For:

occlusion

In November, the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for use in patients with macular edema following retinal vein occlusion, a condition where leaky blood vessels in the eye cause swelling.

From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026

However, these sensors often face challenges like reduced detection capabilities in adverse weather, on unstructured roads, or due to occlusion.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2023

Typically, wearing a patch - often referred to as patching or occlusion therapy - requires covering the unaffected eye for a couple of hours a day.

From BBC ● May 31, 2023

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

From Salon ● May 30, 2023

The cones are inert under hygrometric changes and may always be recognized in herbaria by their persistent occlusion and soft tissues.

From The Genus Pinus by George Russell Shaw