blockade

[blo-keyd]

noun

1. 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.

2. any obstruction of passage or progress.

   We had difficulty in getting through the blockade of bodyguards.

3. Pathology.,  interruption or inhibition of a normal physiological signal, as a nerve impulse or a heart muscle–contraction impulse.

verb (used with object)

blockaded, blockading 

1. to subject to a blockade.

blockade

/ blɒˈkeɪd /

noun

1. military the interdiction of a nation's sea lines of communications, esp of an individual port by the use of sea power

2. something that prevents access or progress

3. 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

1. to impose a blockade on

2. to obstruct the way to

Other Word Forms

• blockader noun
• counterblockade noun
• nonblockaded adjective
• preblockade noun
• problockade adjective
• unblockaded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of blockade¹

1670–80; block (in the sense “to create obstacles”) + -ade ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of blockade¹

C17: from _block + -ade , as in _ambuscade

Synonym Study

See siege.

Example Sentences

The Sibylline team reckons Beijing is contemplating the blockade or quarantine of Taiwan before 2027 to choke U.S. chip access and secure its own AI supremacy.

Read more on MarketWatch

Several armed gangs in Gaza are reportedly acting under Israeli protection, and allegedly loot aid convoys entering the territory, where shortages remain dire after Israel's wartime blockade.

Read more on Barron's

Republicans had hoped that a blockade on troop pay would be seen by some Democrats as politically toxic and might be a catalyst to finally break the party's united stance on the shutdown.

Read more on Barron's

They talk past each other like speeding spaceships, continually smashing into the same blockade: Teddy simply doesn’t believe that Michelle is a person.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“The Venezuelan people do not want invasions, blockades, or threats against them,” he wrote.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• barricade 
• closure 
• encirclement www.thesaurus.com
• restriction 
• roadblock 
• siege 
• stoppage