The trees outside the window blocked off the sun. 窗外的树木挡住了阳光。
block
[ noun ]
a solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides)
<noun.artifact> the pyramids were built with large stone blocks
a rectangular area in a city surrounded by streets and usually containing several buildings
<noun.location> he lives in the next block
a three-dimensional shape with six square or rectangular sides
<noun.shape>
a number or quantity of related things dealt with as a unit
<noun.group> he reserved a large block of seats he held a large block of the company's stock
housing in a large building that is divided into separate units
<noun.artifact> there is a block of classrooms in the west wing
(computer science) a sector or group of sectors that function as the smallest data unit permitted
<noun.quantity> since blocks are often defined as a single sector, the terms `block' and `sector' are sometimes used interchangeably
an inability to remember or think of something you normally can do; often caused by emotional tension
<noun.cognition> I knew his name perfectly well but I had a temporary block
a simple machine consisting of a wheel with a groove in which a rope can run to change the direction or point of application of a force applied to the rope
<noun.artifact>
a metal casting containing the cylinders and cooling ducts of an engine
<noun.artifact> the engine had to be replaced because the block was cracked
an obstruction in a pipe or tube
<noun.artifact> we had to call a plumber to clear out the blockage in the drainpipe
a platform from which an auctioneer sells
<noun.artifact> they put their paintings on the block
the act of obstructing or deflecting someone's movements
Block \Block\ (bl[o^]k), n. [OE. blok; cf. F. bloc (fr. OHG.), D. & Dan. blok, Sw. & G. block, OHG. bloch. There is also an OHG. bloch, biloh; bi by + the same root as that of E. lock. Cf. {Block}, v. t., {Blockade}, and see {Lock}.] 1. A piece of wood more or less bulky; a solid mass of wood, stone, etc., usually with one or more plane, or approximately plane, faces; as, a block on which a butcher chops his meat; a block by which to mount a horse; children's playing blocks, etc.
Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke, And Christmas blocks are burning. --Wither.
All her labor was but as a block Left in the quarry. --Tennyson.
2. The solid piece of wood on which condemned persons lay their necks when they are beheaded.
Noble heads which have been brought to the block. --E. Everett.
3. The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped. Hence: The pattern or shape of a hat.
He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block. --Shak.
4. 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.
5. A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets, whether occupied by buildings or not.
The new city was laid out in rectangular blocks, each block containing thirty building lots. Such an average block, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street. --Lond. Quart. Rev.
6. 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.
7. (Falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept.
8. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a hindrance; an obstacle; -- also called {blockage}; as, a block in the way; a block in an artery; a block in a nerve; a block in a biochemical pathway.
9. A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work.
10. (Print.) A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to make it type high.
11. A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt. [Obs.]
What a block art thou ! --Shak.
12. A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See {Block system}, below.
13. In Australia, one of the large lots into which public land, when opened to settlers, is divided by the government surveyors. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
14. (Cricket) (a) The position of a player or bat when guarding the wicket. (b) A block hole. (c) The popping crease. [R.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
15. a number of individual items sold as a unit; as, a block of airline ticketes; a block of hotel rooms; a block of stock. [PJC]
16. the length of one side of a city block[5], traversed along any side; as, to walk three blocks ahead and turn left at the corner. [PJC]
17. a halt in a mental process, especially one due to stress, memory lapse, confusion, etc.; as, a writer's block; to have a block in remembering a name. [PJC]
18. (computers) a quantity of binary-encoded information transferred, or stored, as a unit to, from, or on a data storage device; as, to divide a disk into 512-byte blocks. [PJC]
19. (computers) a number of locations in a random-access memory allocated to storage of specific data; as, to allocate a block of 1024 bytes for the stack. [PJC]
{A block of shares} (Stock Exchange), a large number of shares in a stock company, sold in a lump. --Bartlett.
{Block printing}. (a) 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. --S. W. Williams. (b) A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved surface coated with coloring matter.
{Block system} 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.
{Back blocks}, Australian pastoral country which is remote from the seacoast or from a river. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Block \Block\ (bl[o^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Blocked} (bl[o^]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. {Blocking}.] [Cf. F. bloquer, fr. bloc block. See {Block}, n.] 1. 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 up; as, to block up a road or harbor; to block an entrance.
With moles . . . would block the port. --Rowe.
A city . . . besieged and blocked about. --Milton.
2. 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.
3. To shape on, or stamp with, a block; as, to block a hat.
4. to cause (any activity) to halt by creating an obstruction; as, to block a nerve impulse; to block a biochemical reaction with a drug. [PJC]
{To block out}, to begin to reduce to shape; to mark out roughly; to lay out; to outline; as, to block out a plan.
I won't allow it.' The highest priority goes to developing infrastructure, otherwise bottlenecks will block growth.
Pakistani soldiers set off landslides to block mountain roads and stop Muslim militants from marching into Indian-held Kashmir.
The Sinhalese front, outlawed after a failed 1971 coup, contends that the pact makes too many concessions to the Tamils and has vowed to block it.
Robins has asked the bankruptcy court to block suits against it that might be brought by women who haven't yet discovered that the Shield hurt them.
The tax fears took L100 off Generali to L28,390 while Fondiaria fell L793 to L27,697. PARIS was lifted by a firm opening on Wall Street but volume was generated by big block trades in BSN, Lyonnaise des Eaux and Generale des Eaux.
It also claimed the holders of a preferred stock issue it is attempting to have invalidated provided a 318,000-share block favoring Irving.
The attack came three days after a paratrooper was killed in the West Bank city of Nablus when a large concrete block was dropped on his head.
Under questioning from her attorney, William G. Schick of Moline, Ms. St. Charles said she wasn't trying to block the investigation, but was concerned that investigators may have given false information about the church to members.
According to market sources, yesterday's big block took some unhappy institutional investors out of the stock, cleared out the underwriters' leftovers and put the shares in the hands of investors who saw them as an attractive value at 14 1/2.
It carried debris half a block away from the demolished house and shattered windows and cracked walls in neighboring homes.
The company said it and some of its employees bought a large block of Jefferies shares from Primerica Inc.
The Federal Home Loan Bank Board had sought to block Parks under regulations prohibiting a group from gaining control of a savings and loan association without federal permission.
"I could have invested in an office block but I shall get much more pleasure out of this," the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party said Sunday.
The book, titled "The Hutton Neighborhood Coloring Book," included such sayings as, "We're no longer the nicest house on the block."
He complained most bitterly about what he called U.S. efforts to block the debt rescheduling.
A whole city block, including a large department store, was engulfed in flames in the most serious outbreak of violence in any city outside Beijing.
Frozen offerings imported from farther flung seas may prove a better bet. Last week I bought a solid block of small, white squid and hacked my way gratefully through them.
It also requires telephone companies to block access to dial-a-porn services unless a customer has asked for it.
Both the pilots and machinists have made it clear that they intend to block any transaction they don't like.
Two people who grow up on the same block are still going to hear different influences as kids.
In Washington, independent counsel James McKay is investigating whether Meese violated a law that prohibits payment of bribes to foreign officials by U.S. companies and authorizes the attorney general to intervene to block them.
O&B Income Fund I has sued both API and AREP, seeking to block the sale of AREP without the consent of a majority of the partnership units.
Sharp criticism from Sen. Alan Cranston will not block action on the nomination of San Francisco attorney Vaughn Walker for a federal judgeship, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says.
Congressional and administration negotiators have agreed to give the president authority to block foreign takeovers of U.S. companies if the change in ownership would threaten national security.
A living room set that graced Ludwig van Beethoven's salon goes on the auction block next month.
Scheduled to go on the block are two acknowledged masterpieces, both carrying estimates of $40 million to $50 million, and even higher expectations.
How did these three get into court in the first place to try to block a $1.5 billion launch?
Several Eastern employee trusts, which own an issue of Eastern stock, claim they could block major asset moves because of their standing as shareholders.
But the SEC backs the House version, which would block the Treasury's veto power.
Intel Corp. purchased a big block of its shares from IBM for $361.6 million, reflecting the chip maker's return to health.