block
/blɑk/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.88 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
noun
A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
noun
A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
noun
A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
noun
A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
noun
A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
noun
A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
Example Sentences
- "a block of ice; a block of stone"
- "She picked up the block and examined it."
- "Anne Boleyn placed her head on the block and awaited her execution."
- "You young porkers who are sitting in front of me, every one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year."
- "Next morning, Monday, after disposing of the embalmed head to a barber, for a block, I settled my own and comrade’s bill; using, however, my comrade’s money."
- "He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block."
Etymology
From Middle English blok (“log, stump, solid piece”), from Old French bloc (“log, block”), from Middle Dutch blok (“treetrunk”), from Old Dutch *blok (“log”), from Proto-West Germanic *blokk, from Proto-Germanic *blukką (“beam, log”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“thick plank, beam, pile, prop”). Cognate with Old Frisian blok, Old Saxon blok, Old High German bloh, bloc (“block”), Old English bolca (“gangway of a ship, plank”), Old Norse bǫlkr (“divider, partition”). More at balk. See also bloc, bulk.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /blɑk/
- British English: /blɒk/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
block capitals
block coefficient
building block
cinder block
clinker block
group of buildings
apartment block
around the block