# block

> English word · Noun · IPA /blɒk/ · frequency rank #1,386

## Definitions
1. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
2. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
3. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
4. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
5. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
6. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
7. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
8. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
9. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
10. A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
11. A physical area or extent of something, often rectangular or approximately rectangular.
12. A physical area or extent of something, often rectangular or approximately rectangular.
13. A physical area or extent of something, often rectangular or approximately rectangular.
14. A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.
15. A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.
16. A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.
17. A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.
18. A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.
19. A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.
20. A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.
21. A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.
22. A contiguous group of urban lots of property, typically several acres in extent, not crossed by public streets.
23. A contiguous group of urban lots of property, typically several acres in extent, not crossed by public streets.
24. A cuboid or approximately cuboid building.
25. A cuboid or approximately cuboid building.
26. Something that prevents something from passing.
27. Something that prevents something from passing.
28. Something that prevents something from passing.
29. Something that prevents something from passing.
30. Something that prevents something from passing.
31. Something that prevents something from passing.
32. Something that prevents something from passing.
33. Something that prevents something from passing.
34. Something that prevents something from passing.
35. Something that prevents something from passing.
36. Something that prevents something from passing.
37. The human head.
38. Solitary confinement.
39. A blockhead; a stupid person; a dolt.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **bok** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-bok)
- **book** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-book)
- **blog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-blog)
- **blow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-blow)
- **buck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-buck)
- **Boca** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-boca)
- **blot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-blot)
- **bock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-bock)
- **blood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-blood)
- **brick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-brick)
- **blown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-blown)
- **blows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-blows)
- **bloom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-bloom)
- **brook** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-brook)
- **Brock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-brock)
- **bloke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-bloke)
- **blond** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-blond)
- **Buick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-buick)
- **blocs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-blocs)
- **blocks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/block-vs-blocks)

## Common misspellings (8)
`bblock`, `blcok`, `bllock`, `blocck`, `blockk`, `blokc`, `bolck`, `lbock`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/block