occlude

[ uh-klood ]

verb (used with object)

, oc·clud·ed, oc·clud·ing.

1. to close, shut, or stop up (a passage, opening, etc.).

   Synonyms: plug, block, clog, obstruct

2. to shut in, out, or off.
3. Physical Chemistry. (of certain metals and other solids) to incorporate (gases and other foreign substances), as by absorption or adsorption.

verb (used without object)

, oc·clud·ed, oc·clud·ing.

1. Dentistry. to shut or close, with the cusps of the opposing teeth of the upper and lower jaws fitting together.
2. Meteorology. to form an occluded front.

occlude

/ əˈkluːd /

verb

1. tr to block or stop up (a passage or opening); obstruct
2. tr to prevent the passage of
3. tr chem (of a solid) to incorporate (a substance) by absorption or adsorption
4. meteorol to form or cause to form an occluded front
5. dentistry to produce or cause to produce occlusion, as in chewing

occlude

/ ə-klo̅o̅d′ /

1. To force air upward from the Earth's surface, as when a cold front overtakes and undercuts a warm front.

Derived Forms

• ocˈcludent, adjective

Other Words From

• oc·cludent adjective
• unoc·cluded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of occlude¹

1590–1600; < Latin occlūdere to shut up, close up, equivalent to oc- oc- + -clūdere, combining form of claudere to close

Word History and Origins

Origin of occlude¹

C16: from Latin occlūdere, from ob- (intensive) + claudere to close

Example Sentences

Just a few rows back from the front of the stage, I watched as patches of brown, well-trodden grass — once largely visible minutes earlier — became steadily occluded by hundreds of feet.

From Salon

“I was living in an occluded hallucination,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times

Some machine-learning approaches employ generative AI models that try to guess what lies in the occluded regions, but these models can hallucinate objects that aren't really there.

From Science Daily

“Concerns are held for the occupants of these two vehicles due to serious weather conditions” that have hampered the search effort, with low clouds occluding an aerial search, a spokesman for the police said.

From New York Times

When one eye of the mouse is occluded for several days, the visual cortex starts to respond less effectively to the closed eye and better to the open eye.

From Science Daily