blocking
Americannoun
noun
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electronics the interruption of anode current in a valve because of the application of a high negative voltage to the grid
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internal congestion in a communication system that prevents the transmission of information
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of blocking
Explanation
When you obstruct someone from seeing or doing something, that's blocking. In most sports, blocking your opponent is a huge part of playing the game. Blocking the player who's trying to make a basket is one kind of blocking. There's also blocking a street for the neighborhood block party, or blocking your ex-friend on social media. In each case, you're cutting off access in some way. In theater, the word takes on a different meaning, "the staging of actors." This use stems from the 19th-century theater, when directors would frequently use wooden blocks to plan out the actors' positions on a miniature stage.
Vocabulary lists containing blocking
Academic and Literary Vocabulary, Unit 2
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Academic Vocabulary and Literary Terms, Unit 5
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The Black Girl Survives in This One
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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.
In addition, across the entire city, the law bans blocking sidewalks in ways that would impede a wheelchair or within several feet of a driveway or building entrance.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
But all over the country, community-level organizations have been succeeding in blocking data-center projects.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
The agency doesn’t have much of a recent history of blocking utility deals.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
Some have raised safety concerns of potential "traffic jams" on Everest after delays caused by a large, dangerous chunk of glacier blocking the route up the mountain from Base Camp in Nepal.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
The entire ceiling had fallen in, blocking the way out to the courtyard.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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.
