Part 1202

<blockquote>Noble heads which have been brought to the <b>block</b>. <i>E. Everett.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped. Hence: The pattern on shape of a hat.</def>

<blockquote>He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next <b>block</b>. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>A large or long building divided into separate houses or shops, or a number of houses or shops built in contact with each other so as to form one building; a row of houses or shops.</def>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets, whether occupied by buildings or not.</def>

<blockquote>The new city was laid out in rectangular <b>blocks</b>, each <b>block</b> containing thirty building lots. Such an average <b>block</b>, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street. <i>Lond. Quart. Rev.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>6.</b> <def>A grooved pulley or sheave incased in a frame or shell which is provided with a hook, eye, or strap, by which it may be attached to an object. It is used to change the direction of motion, as in raising a heavy object that can not be conveniently reached, and also, when two or more such sheaves are compounded, to change the rate of motion, or to exert increased force; -- used especially in the rigging of ships, and in tackles.</def>

<p><b>7.</b> <fld>(Falconry)</fld> <def>The perch on which a bird of prey is kept.</def>

<p><b>8.</b> <def>Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a hindrance; an obstacle; <as>as, a <ex>block</ex> in the way</as>.</def>

<p><b>9.</b> <def>A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work.</def>

<p><b>10.</b> <fld>(Print.)</fld> <def>A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to make it type high.</def>

<p><b>11.</b> <def>A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>What a <b>block</b> art thou ! <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>12.</b> <def>A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See <cref>Block system</cref>, below.</def>

<cs><col>A block of shares</col> <fld>(Stock Exchange)</fld>, <cd>a large number of shares in a stock company, sold in a lump.</cd> <i>Bartlett</i>. -- <col>Block printing</col>. <sd>(a)</sd> <cd>A mode of printing (common in China and Japan) from engraved boards by means of a sheet of paper laid on the linked surface and rubbed with a brush.</cd> <i>S. W. Williams</i>. <sd>(b)</sd> <cd>A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved surface coated with coloring matter.</cd> -- <col>Block system</col> <cd>on railways, a system by which the track is divided into sections of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric signals that no train enters a section or block before the preceding train has left it.</cd></cs>

<h1>Block</h1> <Xpage=156>

<hw>Block</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>imp. & p. p.</tt> <er>Blocked</er> <tt>(#)</tt>; <tt>p. pr. & vb. n.</tt> <er>Blocking</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[Cf. F. <ets>bloquer</ets>, fr. <ets>bloc</ets> block. See <er>Block</er>, <tt>n.</tt>]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To obstruct so as to prevent passage or progress; to prevent passage from, through, or into, by obstructing the way; -- used both of persons and things; -- often followed by <i>up</i>; <as>as, to <ex>block</ex> up a road or harbor</as>.</def>

<blockquote>With moles . . . would <b>block</b> the port. <i>Rowe.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>A city . . . besieged and <b>blocked</b> about. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To secure or support by means of blocks; to secure, as two boards at their angles of intersection, by pieces of wood glued to each.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>To shape on, or stamp with, a block; <as>as, to <ex>block</ex> a hat</as>.</def>

<cs><col>To block out</col>, <cd>to begin to reduce to shape; to mark out roughly; to lay out; <as>as, to <ex>block out<ex> a plan</as>.</cd></cs>

<h1>Blockade</h1> <Xpage=156>

<hw>Block*ade"</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[Cf. It. <ets>bloccata</ets>. See <er>Block</er>, <tt>v. t.</tt> ]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The shutting up of a place by troops or ships, with the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the reception of supplies; <as>as, the <ex>blockade</ex> of the ports of an enemy</as>.</def>

<note>&hand; <i>Blockade</i> is now usually applied to an investment with ships or vessels, while siege is used of an investment by land forces. To constitute a <i>blockade</i>, the investing power must be able to apply its force to every point of practicable access, so as to render it dangerous to attempt to enter; and there is no <i>blockade</i> of that port where its force can not be brought to bear.</note>

<i>Kent.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>An obstruction to passage.</def>

<cs><col>To raise a blockade</col>. <cd>See under <er>Raise</er>.</cd></cs>