roadblock

American  

[rohd-blok] / ˈroʊdˌblɒk /

noun

• roadblocks
  plural

1. an obstruction placed across a road, especially of barricades or police cars, for halting or hindering traffic, as to facilitate the capture of a pursued car or inspection for safety violations.

2. an obstruction on a road, as a fallen tree or a pile of fallen rocks.

3. a hastily built barricade, as of barbed wire, erected across a road to hold up the advance of an enemy.

4. an action, condition, etc., that obstructs progress toward an objective.

   Nationalism is a roadblock to European unity.

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verb (used with object)

1. to halt or obstruct with or as if with a roadblock.

roadblock British  

/ ˈrəʊdˌblɒk /

noun

1. a barrier set up across a road by the police or military, in order to stop a fugitive, inspect traffic, etc

2. a difficulty or obstacle to progress

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• roadblocks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of roadblock

First recorded in 1935–40; road + block

Explanation

A literal roadblock is a barricade or obstruction that's meant to block traffic. A figurative roadblock is any situation you encounter that makes it difficult or impossible to do what you want or need to do. When a driver encounters a roadblock, she has to stop and go back, or to take a detour and use a different route. This sort of roadblock might be set up to divert cars away from construction or an accident. Other roadblocks are obstructions to progress, like a lawsuit that halts construction on a building or the high cost of something: "The price of converting to a solar water heater was a roadblock to our plans."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

roadblock roadblocks

He’s 6 feet 1, which some consider a roadblock to playing at the highest level, but it’s Fields’ intangibles that separate him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

That’s because playing on the same defensive line might clear the biggest roadblock that they have faced stopping them from putting up even gaudier numbers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

But there’s no constitutional roadblock to anti-vote-betting laws, and they can serve some salutary purposes.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

Police Commissioner Ahmed Sanusi accused the men of abandoning their official posts to set up the unauthorised roadblock.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

It is a formidable roadblock, this stock phrase, in the path of understanding between expert and layman.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Demonstrations over worsening living conditions escalated into a revolt, marked by roadblocks that cut off major cities and calls for the president's resignation.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

During the primary, all major candidates agreed on the need to reduce roadblocks to homebuilding and permitting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Slavtcheff said those factors were roadblocks for other materials they considered.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

When makeshift roadblocks appeared, Minneapolis urged residents to stop erecting them, citing the need for emergency access, fire response, and roadways open for all.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

The agent snapped on his radio and, as he watched more cars head for Bud Gleason’s, contacted Dona Luz and the highway roadblocks to see if anything had happened.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Related Words

• barricade
• blockade