blockade
Americannoun
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the isolating, closing off, or surrounding of a place, as a port, harbor, or city, by hostile ships or troops to prevent entrance or exit.
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any obstruction of passage or progress.
We had difficulty in getting through the blockade of bodyguards.
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Pathology. interruption or inhibition of a normal physiological signal, as a nerve impulse or a heart muscle–contraction impulse.
verb (used with object)
noun
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military the interdiction of a nation's sea lines of communications, esp of an individual port by the use of sea power
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something that prevents access or progress
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med the inhibition of the effect of a hormone or a drug, a transport system, or the action of a nerve by a drug
verb
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to impose a blockade on
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to obstruct the way to
Related Words
See siege.
Other Word Forms
- blockader noun
- counterblockade noun
- nonblockaded adjective
- preblockade noun
- problockade adjective
- unblockaded adjective
Etymology
Origin of blockade
1670–80; block (in the sense “to create obstacles”) + -ade 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would be “very much a last resort,” Parmar says.
The economics points to three principles, none of which involves naval blockades.
Even before the US blockade, an AFP analysis of official statistics found that the island generated only half the electricity it needed last year.
From Barron's
Authorities have said the worst of the violence has passed, with most blockades ending across the country.
From Barron's
Authorities said Binance critically undermined the U.S. blockade on Iran’s economy, allowing U.S. users to make transactions worth over $898 million with Iranian users despite sanctions that bar financial institutions from transacting there.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
