blockhouse

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"blockhouse" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“blockhouse” is uncommon English (frequency #85,046 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,046
frequency rank, English
31,241
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A sturdy military fortification, often of concrete, with gunports.

Key facts for blockhouse
PropertyValue
Headwordblockhouse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#85,046
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “blockhouse” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). blockhouse lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

blockhouse is uncommon English at frequency #85,046 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for blockhouse in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From block + house. Calque of German Blockhaus. The correct English form is blockhouse, spelled B-L-O-C-K-H-O-U-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sturdy military fortification, often of concrete, with gunports.
  2. 2
    A reinforced building from which to control hazardous operations, such as an explosion or a rocket launch.
  3. 3
    A temporary wooden fortification with a projecting upper storey.

Etymology

From block + house. Calque of German Blockhaus.

This word in other languages

blocao(Español)casemate(Français)Blockhaus(Deutsch)blockhaus(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "blockhouse"?
"blockhouse" is spelled B-L-O-C-K-H-O-U-S-E.
What does "blockhouse" mean?
As a noun, "blockhouse" means: A sturdy military fortification, often of concrete, with gunports.
What is the origin of the word "blockhouse"?
From block + house. Calque of German Blockhaus. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “blockhouse”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-L-O-C-K-H-O-U-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list