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# block

«block» in Mova's school dictionary: **a solid piece of wood, plastic or stone, often a cube…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (block, blocks); verb (block, blocks, blocked, blocking)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A block is a solid piece of wood, plastic or stone, often a cube, that children build with. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#m1)

2) A block is a group of buildings between streets, or a big building: «a block of flats». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#m2)

3) To block is to stop something from passing: «A tree blocked the road». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#m3)

4) In sport, a block stops the ball or a player. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

a toy counted, often used to build towers; blocks are used (taken away) or added; in maths, base-ten blocks show ones, tens and hundreds; phrases: «building blocks», «a block of», «around the block», «block the way»

### examples

- Randy has 78 blocks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#x1)
- He used 19 blocks to build a tower. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#x2)
- Each tower has 6 blocks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#x3)
- How many more blocks did he use for the house than for the tower? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#x4)
- We use blocks to show tens and ones. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#x5)
- Our school is two blocks from my house. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#x6)
- A fallen tree blocked the path. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#x7)
- Don't block the fire door. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#x8)
- Oh, you in front, what is blocking the way?” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/#x9)

### note

Countable: a block, blocks. A thing counted. «used to build» often takes away from what is left, or names a part. Trap: «blocks used for the tower» and «blocks left» are different numbers. Safety: never block a fire exit.

### In the corpora

- [If a bank card is lost, the bank should be told at once so it can block the card.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/62-olympiad-plans-in-order-and-money-sums/21/)
- [Banks use AI to spot unusual spending and block possible fraud; sometimes a real payment is blocked by mistake.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/19-ai-in-one-ordinary-day/7/)
- [The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai is a woodblock print, so many copies were made from the carved blocks.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/42-olympiad-picture-puzzles/9/)
- [Sea turtles eat jellyfish, and floating plastic bags look like jellyfish, so turtles sometimes swallow plastic, which can block their stomachs.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/133-finding-nemo-dory-turtles-and-the-reef/12/)
- [When the war blocked ships from Ukraine in 2022, grain and bread prices rose in many countries.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/286-from-field-to-plate-wheat-flour-and-bread/12/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «block» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/block/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.