Antonyms for block


Grammar : Noun, verb
Spell : blok
Phonetic Transcription : blÉ’k


Definition of block

Origin :
  • "solid piece," c.1300, from Old French bloc "log, block" of wood (13c.), via Middle Dutch bloc "trunk of a tree" or Old High German bloh, from a common Germanic source, from PIE *bhlugo-, from *bhelg- "a thick plank, beam" (see balk).
  • Meaning "mould for a hat" is from 1570s. Slang sense of "head" is from 1630s. Extended sense of "obstruction" is first recorded 1640s. In cricket from 1825; in U.S. football from 1912. The meaning in city block is 1796, from the notion of a "compact mass" of buildings; slang meaning "fashionable promenade" is 1869.
  • BLOCK. A term applied in America to a square mass of houses included between four streets. It is a very useful one. [Bartlett]
  • noun mass of material
  • noun obstruction
  • verb obstruct
Example sentences :
  • At Fortieth Street he looked down to the middle of the block.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • He left the block of offices and went towards Prince's Street.
  • Extract from : « The Foolish Lovers » by St. John G. Ervine
  • He hastened after her and saw her enter a block of offices in Cornhill.
  • Extract from : « The Foolish Lovers » by St. John G. Ervine
  • She held a brush in her hand, and she looked down at her block.
  • Extract from : « The Incomplete Amorist » by E. Nesbit
  • Abbey was fetched immediately, but he only arrived in time to see me on the block.
  • Extract from : « My Double Life » by Sarah Bernhardt
  • So he turned to Antoine, who had remained seated in front of a block he was engraving.
  • Extract from : « The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete » by Emile Zola
  • Shell ore, block ore, and limestone also exist in abundance.
  • Extract from : « Cleveland Past and Present » by Maurice Joblin
  • Well, it's only a drizzle and we can take a streetcar to within a block of the house.
  • Extract from : « Alice Adams » by Booth Tarkington
  • A block system is devised and partly made, but is not yet erected.
  • Extract from : « Scientific American Supplement, No. 417 » by Various
  • When the god is not present, his idol is merely a block of wood or stone.
  • Extract from : « The Chinese Fairy Book » by Various

Synonyms for block

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019