block printing

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act, process, or art of printing from blocks of wood on which the letters or characters have been carved in relief; specifically, the Chinese method of printing books, and that employed to some extent in Europe before the invention of movable types. See block-book.
2. n. The process of impressing patterns on textile fabrics, especially calicos, by means of wooden blocks having the pattern cut in relief on their surface and charged with color. A similar method is frequently used in printing paper-hangings.
3. n. Any process in which, by the aid of photography, a block is produced which may be printed from in an ordinary printing-press together with the letterpress. The half-tones of the photograph must be broken up into lines, dots, stippling, or grain in order to hold the ink.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved surface coated with coloring matter.
2. n. See under Block.