snatch block

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noun Nautical.

a fairlead having the form of a block that can be opened to receive the bight of a rope at any point along its length.

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Origin of snatch block

First recorded in 1615–25

Words nearby snatch block

snarler, snarl-up, snarly, snash, snatch, snatch block, snatched, snatch squad, snatchy, snath, snazzy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use snatch block in a sentence

Church bells pealed from St. Catherine of Siena parish one block away.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise|Jason Berry|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
During his trek, Brinsley twice passed within a block of a police stationhouse and he almost certainly saw cops along the way.
Exclusive: Inside a Cop-Killer’s Final Hours|Michael Daly|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Block 3F is slated for release in 2019, but who knows how much that will slip?
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019|Dave Majumdar|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After walking block after block holding that container, he had suddenly discarded it and was now clutching a gun.
Exclusive: Inside a Cop-Killer’s Final Hours|Michael Daly|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST

If someone wants to ensure a direct and secure connection, no entity, whether a hotel or otherwise, should be able to block it.
How ‘Ethical’ Hotel Chain Marriott Gouges Guests in the Name of Wi-Fi Security|Kyle Chayka|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Spanish troops did not care to venture past a block of buildings in which were the offices and stores of a British firm.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
The upper block was left a little thicker, the junction or root of the neck necessitating this.
Antonio Stradivari|Horace William Petherick
The long unbroken block had as many and as various stores as are generally spread over the entire area of a town.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
It had been very scanty information and late in its arrival—too late to enable the master manhunter to block the plan.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
How I do wish sometimes to give Ritchie a jog, when there is some stumbling-block that he sticks fast at.
The Daisy Chain|Charlotte Yonge

British Dictionary definitions for snatch block

snatch block

noun

nautical a block that can be opened so that a rope can be inserted from the side, without threading it through from the end

Word Origin for snatch block

C17: so called because the rope can be inserted quickly: figuratively, the block snatches it. See snatch

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012