block

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A solid piece of a hard substance, such as wood, having one or more flat sides.
• noun Such a piece used as a construction member or as a support.
• noun Such a piece upon which chopping or cutting is done.
• noun Such a piece upon which persons are beheaded.
• noun One of a set of small wooden or plastic pieces, such as a cube, bar, or cylinder, used as a building toy.
• noun Printing A large amount of text.
• noun Sports A starting block.
• noun A stand from which articles are displayed and sold at an auction.
• noun A mold or form on which an item is shaped or displayed.
• noun A substance, such as wood or stone, that has been prepared for engraving.
• noun A pulley or a system of pulleys set in a casing.
• noun An engine block.
• noun A bloc.
• noun A set of like items, such as shares of stock, sold or handled as a unit.
• noun A group of four or more unseparated postage stamps forming a rectangle.
• noun Canadian A group of townships in an unsurveyed area.
• noun A usually rectangular section of a city or town bounded on each side by consecutive streets.
• noun A segment of a street bounded by consecutive cross streets and including its buildings and inhabitants.
• noun A large building divided into separate units, such as apartments.
• noun A length of railroad track controlled by signals.
• noun Something that obstructs; an obstacle.
• noun The act of preventing someone or something from advancing, passing, or progressing, as.
• noun Sports An act of bodily obstruction, as of a player or the ball.
• noun Football An act of legally using one's body to obstruct or move a defensive player so that a player in possession of the ball may advance downfield, pass, or otherwise execute an offensive play.
• noun Medicine Interruption or obstruction of a physiological function.
• noun Psychology A sudden cessation of speech or a thought process without an immediate observable cause, sometimes considered a consequence of repression.
• noun Slang The human head.
• intransitive verb To stop or impede the passage of or movement through; obstruct.
• intransitive verb To prevent from happening, succeeding, or progressing.
• intransitive verb To shut out from view.
• intransitive verb To stop the passage of (a motion or bill) in a legislative assembly.
• intransitive verb Sports To prevent or slow the movement of (an opponent) by using one's body, as by making a block in football.
• intransitive verb Sports To stop or deflect (a ball or puck) by using one's body.
• intransitive verb Medicine To interrupt or obstruct the functioning of (a physiological process), especially by the use of drugs.
• intransitive verb Psychology To fail to remember.
• intransitive verb To support, strengthen, or retain in place by means of a block.
• intransitive verb To shape, mold, or form with or on a block.
• intransitive verb To indicate broadly without great detail; sketch. Often used with out:
• intransitive verb To run (trains) on a block system.
• intransitive verb To obstruct the movement of an opponent by using one's body.
• intransitive verb To stop or deflect a ball or puck by using one's body.
• intransitive verb To suffer a mental block. Often used with on:
• idiom (go on the block) To be offered for sale.