blockaded; blockading
blockader
noun
1
: the isolation by a warring nation of an enemy area (such as a harbor) by troops or warships to prevent passage of persons or supplies
broadly
: a restrictive measure designed to obstruct the commerce and communications of an unfriendly nation
2
: something that blocks
3
: interruption of normal physiological function (such as transmission of nerve impulses) of a cellular receptor, tissue, or organ
also
: inhibition of a physiologically active substance (such as a hormone)
Synonyms
Examples of blockade in a Sentence
Verb
They blockaded the country's ports.
the militant protestors blockaded the whole area around city hall
Noun
it was the blockade of all the enemy's major ports that finally won the war
Recent Examples on the Web
Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2024
By 8:00, the Hamas soldiers blockading the roads started hunting down music fans gathered in nearby bomb shelters, the Wall Street Journal reported.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 15 Oct. 2023
For six weeks, thousands blockaded the city’s three clinics, mobbing sidewalks, throwing themselves in front of cars, handcuffing themselves to fences and screaming verses from Scripture.
—Kate Zernike, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2024
The road map will also withdraw restrictions on the Houthis’ main ports and airports, which have been blockaded for years.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2024
On May 13, 1862, Smalls had escaped from bondage by seizing command of a Confederate steamer, the CSS Planter, in Charleston, South Carolina, and sailing to the Union blockading fleet.
—Jonathan W. White, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024
But authorities erected hundreds of metal security barriers, blockading the entrance to the church and nearby Borisovsky Cemetery, preventing the crowd from entering or placing flowers during the church service or graveside burial.
—Catherine Belton, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024
The rowdy confrontation was the latest in a monthlong showdown that has seen farmers blockade roads around France and in Paris — a movement that has spread to other countries, including Greece, Poland, Belgium and Germany.
—Liz Alderman, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2024
On February 15, 2024 several major Mexican trucking chambers blockaded major highways near important logistics hubs in Mexico in order to draw attention to security problems drivers face on Mexico’s highways.
—Nathaniel Parish Flannery, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024
Victoria Bisset, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024
For elderly Gazans whose lifetimes have been punctuated by war, the latest fighting has compounded years of suffering under partial blockade.
—Mohammad Al Sawalhi, CNN, 7 Apr. 2024
In the aftermath of the Berlin blockade and the creation of NATO, followed by the Soviets’ detonation of their first atomic weapon, readers—Americans, especially—might have been eager for an anti-Stalinist bedtime story.
—Stephen Metcalf, The Atlantic, 5 Apr. 2024
Ramadan – a month marked by Muslims across the world with daytime fasting, followed by an evening of food, sweets, prayer, and charity – had continued in Gaza even at the height of the last four Israel-Hamas wars and amid a stifling 17-year Israeli and Egyptian blockade.
—Ghada Abdulfattah, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Apr. 2024
Since then, more than 33,000 Palestinians have died (almost certainly an undercount) and an Israeli blockade of food supplies to Gaza Strip civilians has led to famine.
—Melvin Backman, Quartz, 2 Apr. 2024
Just as Hitler once relied on Eurasian resources to thwart the British blockade, Putin now relies on China to blunt the economic harms of confrontation with the West.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 29 Mar. 2024
And Rydberg blockades don’t have to be between lone atoms.
—Philip Ball, Quanta Magazine, 25 Mar. 2024
Across the Gaza Strip, the severe shortages of food and other basic goods come amid Israeli’s bombardment and a near-total blockade.
—Thomas Fuller, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024
Verb
Barbecue, who controls access to one of the main fuel ports, responded to the measure by blockading the port for nearly two months.
—Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2024
By 8:00, the Hamas soldiers blockading the roads started hunting down music fans gathered in nearby bomb shelters, the Wall Street Journal reported.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 15 Oct. 2023
For six weeks, thousands blockaded the city’s three clinics, mobbing sidewalks, throwing themselves in front of cars, handcuffing themselves to fences and screaming verses from Scripture.
—Kate Zernike, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2024
The road map will also withdraw restrictions on the Houthis’ main ports and airports, which have been blockaded for years.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2024
On May 13, 1862, Smalls had escaped from bondage by seizing command of a Confederate steamer, the CSS Planter, in Charleston, South Carolina, and sailing to the Union blockading fleet.
—Jonathan W. White, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024
But authorities erected hundreds of metal security barriers, blockading the entrance to the church and nearby Borisovsky Cemetery, preventing the crowd from entering or placing flowers during the church service or graveside burial.
—Catherine Belton, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024
The rowdy confrontation was the latest in a monthlong showdown that has seen farmers blockade roads around France and in Paris — a movement that has spread to other countries, including Greece, Poland, Belgium and Germany.
—Liz Alderman, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2024
On February 15, 2024 several major Mexican trucking chambers blockaded major highways near important logistics hubs in Mexico in order to draw attention to security problems drivers face on Mexico’s highways.
—Nathaniel Parish Flannery, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024
Noun
The enclave, home to more than 2 million Palestinians, has already been under a blockade for 16 years.
—Victoria Bisset, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024
For elderly Gazans whose lifetimes have been punctuated by war, the latest fighting has compounded years of suffering under partial blockade.
—Mohammad Al Sawalhi, CNN, 7 Apr. 2024
In the aftermath of the Berlin blockade and the creation of NATO, followed by the Soviets’ detonation of their first atomic weapon, readers—Americans, especially—might have been eager for an anti-Stalinist bedtime story.
—Stephen Metcalf, The Atlantic, 5 Apr. 2024
Ramadan – a month marked by Muslims across the world with daytime fasting, followed by an evening of food, sweets, prayer, and charity – had continued in Gaza even at the height of the last four Israel-Hamas wars and amid a stifling 17-year Israeli and Egyptian blockade.
—Ghada Abdulfattah, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Apr. 2024
Since then, more than 33,000 Palestinians have died (almost certainly an undercount) and an Israeli blockade of food supplies to Gaza Strip civilians has led to famine.
—Melvin Backman, Quartz, 2 Apr. 2024
Just as Hitler once relied on Eurasian resources to thwart the British blockade, Putin now relies on China to blunt the economic harms of confrontation with the West.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 29 Mar. 2024
And Rydberg blockades don’t have to be between lone atoms.
—Philip Ball, Quanta Magazine, 25 Mar. 2024
Across the Gaza Strip, the severe shortages of food and other basic goods come amid Israeli’s bombardment and a near-total blockade.
—Thomas Fuller, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blockade.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near blockade
Cite this Entry
“Blockade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blockade. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
blockade
1 of 2 noun
block·ade
blä-ˈkād 
1
a
: interruption of normal physiological function (as transmission of nerve impulses) of a cellular receptor, tissue, or organ
b
: inhibition of a physiologically active substance (as a hormone)
2
: the process of reducing the phagocytic capabilities of the mononuclear phagocyte system by loading it with harmless material (as India ink or lampblack) which engages its cells in phagocytosis and prevents them from reacting to new antigenic material compare blocking antibody
blockade
2 of 2 transitive verb
blockaded; blockading
: to subject to blockade
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