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Chockablock started out as a nautical term. A block is a metal or wooden case with one or more pulleys inside. Sometimes, two or more blocks are used as part of a rope and pulley system called a "block and tackle" to provide a mechanical advantage—as, for example, when hoisting a sail on a traditional sailing ship. When the rope is pulled as far as it will go, the blocks are tight together and are said to be chockablock. Non-nautical types associated the chock in chockablock with chock-full, which goes back to Middle English chokkefull, meaning "full to the limit" (a figurative use of "full to choking"). We thus gave chockablock the additional meaning "filled up." Chockablock can also be an adverb meaning "as close or as completely as possible," as in "families living chockablock" or the seemingly redundant "chockablock full."
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Examples of chockablock in a Sentence
Chris Wiley, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2024
Only a handful of brands had big TikTok or Instagram influencers at their shows: Alix Earle attended Dion Lee, Danielle Bernstein and Tinx were among the crowd at Prabal Gurung, and Staud was chockablock with ring-light-haloed women posting about the vibes.
—Rachel Tashjian, Washington Post, 12 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chockablock.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Chockablock.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chockablock. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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