chopping block

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

• noun A wooden block on which food or wood is chopped.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A block on which anything is laid to be chopped.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A wooden slab used as a cutting surface for food etc.
• noun historical, informal A block of wood against which a condemned person put their head prior to beheading.
• noun by extension A dangerous predicament or situation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a steady wooden block on which food can be cut or diced or wood can be split