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.
While traffic has almost returned to normal, some petrol stations that closed at the start of the blockade have not yet reopened, AFP journalists reported.
From Barron's
The USDA’s announcement of the blockade didn’t tie the screwworm peril to immigration, illegal or otherwise, but to commercial imports.
From Los Angeles Times
A highly publicised sweep starting in February saw around 7,000 alleged scammers repatriated and Thailand enact a cross-border internet blockade.
From Barron's
The west African nation's ruling junta is locked in an ongoing battle against jihadists, who recently started a fuel blockade on the country while extending their influence across a large swathe of territory.
From Barron's
Speaking to lawmakers in parliament on Nov. 7, Takaichi said that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own, would threaten Japan’s survival.
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.
