bloc

noun

\ˈbläk

Definition of bloc

1a : a temporary combination of parties in a legislative assembly

b : a group of legislators who act together for some common purpose irrespective of party lines

2a : a combination of persons, groups, or nations forming a unit with a common interest or purpose a bloc of voters

b : a group of nations united by treaty or agreement for mutual support or joint action

3 : a quantity, number, or section of things dealt with as a unit : block … seeking to buy and sell a large bloc of shares …— Stuart Washington Potvin's outstanding bloc of games during his rookie campaign occurred during the 1993 playoffs.— Stan Fischler

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Examples of bloc in a Sentence

a voting bloc in the senate a whole bloc of students got together to complain

Recent Examples on the Web

Dethroning the Queen’s English looks nearly impossible for the soon-to-be 27-country bloc. — Valentina Pop, WSJ, "The Ultimate Démarche: France Wants to Oust English From the EU," 15 June 2018 As part of its pivot to the East, Moscow has expanded ties with Beijing and built up its own regional economic and political bloc, known as the Eurasian Economic Union. — Andrew Higgins, The Seattle Times, "When America is ready, Putin says, he would meet with Trump," 10 June 2018 Non-practicing Christians were the largest single bloc interviewed in all but three of the 15 countries considered by the study. — Tara Isabella Burton, Vox, "Study: Christianity in Western Europe is as much about identity as belief," 5 June 2018 Political campaigns aimed at triggering a Brexit-like departure from the European Union backfired in the Czech Republic last year to produce a surge of support for membership in what was once the bloc’s most euroskeptic state. — Radoslav Tomek, Bloomberg.com, "Euroskeptic Campaign Backfires to Boost Czech Support for EU," 18 May 2018 Black women were the key voting bloc when Barack Obama won the presidency and re-election. — Essence.com, "Black Women Launch Major Voter Campaign For Mid-Term Election Cycle," 11 May 2018 That's a bloc that might be motivated this November. — Stephen Koff, cleveland.com, "Sen. Sherrod Brown's 'no' vote on tax cuts will stand out as Vice President Mike Pence comes to town. Will it hurt him?," 8 Mar. 2018 Germany is the biggest importer of natural gas from Russia in the EU, accounting for more than 20% of the purchases in 2017 by the 28-member bloc, according to the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat. — Laurence Norman, WSJ, "Trump Roils NATO Allies With Calls to Double Military Spending," 11 July 2018 The 28-nation bloc has threatened to retaliate with duties on 2.8 billion euros ($3.3 billion) of American products if tariffs go into effect. — Richard Bravo And Alexander Weber, BostonGlobe.com, "EU seeks last-minute tariff reprieve to avoid global trade fight," 28 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bloc.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.