block

CEFRA2

/blɒk/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To stop movement or progress.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.

Examples

  • Bob's really a chip off the old block.

  • Have you met the new family on the block?

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A chopping block: a cuboid base for cutting or beheading.

  2. A wig block: a simplified head model upon which wigs are worn.

  3. A mould on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped.

More examples

In context

  • She lives in a tower block on an estate in London.

  • Anne Boleyn placed her head on the block and awaited her execution.

  • She picked up the block and examined it.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She used a large wooden blank to keep the door open.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English blok (“log, stump, solid piece”), from Old French bloc (“log, block”), from Middle Dutch blok (“treetrunk”), from Old Dutch *blok (“log”), from Proto-West Germanic *blokk, from Proto-Germanic *blukką (“beam, log”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“thick plank, beam, pile, prop”). Cognate with Old Frisian blok, Old Saxon blok, Old High German bloh, bloc (“block”), Old English bolca (“gangway of a ship, plank”), Old Norse bǫlkr (“divider, partition”). More at balk. See also bloc, bulk.