block out

phrasal verb

blocked out; blocking out; blocks out

: to hide or cover something so that it cannot be seen, felt, or heard

Clouds blocked out the sun.

We put on music to block out the sound of the traffic.

: to force oneself not to think about (something)

He tried to block the event out.

: to ignore (something)

blocking out distractions

Examples of block out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Call quality is clear and the phone does a good job of blocking out background noise. —

PCMAG, 11 Apr. 2024 Initially, noise-canceling headphones did wonders in blocking out the airplane noise. —

Karthika Gupta, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Apr. 2024 Lastly, a total solar eclipse — like the one that took place on April 8 in the U.S. — happens when the moon aligns with the sun blocking out its light completely. —

Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 9 Apr. 2024 All eyes will turn to the skies at 3:20 p.m. local time, when the moon will block out 87% of the sun visible from the area. —

John Bacon, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024 During a total solar eclipse, the moon eventually lines up perfectly between the Earth and the sun, blocking out light. —

Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 8 Apr. 2024 The action kicks off on the hardwood tonight at 7 p.m., and the moon is expected to block out the sun here at 3:15 p.m. Monday. —

Will Ujek, NBC News, 6 Apr. 2024 On April 8th, the moon will partly and then entirely block out the sun. —

Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2024 Seriously, that's one tip that might seem obvious, given how much light these glasses block out, but the tip is being given in 2024 by AAA and others. —

Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 2 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'block out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.