roadblock

noun

road·​block ˈrōd-ˌbläk 

1

a

: a barricade often with traps or mines for holding up an enemy at a point on a road covered by fire

b

: a road barricade set up especially by law enforcement officers

2

: an obstruction in a road

3

: something that blocks progress or prevents accomplishment of an objective

roadblock transitive verb

Examples of roadblock in a Sentence

That's the one roadblock to the plan.

roadblocks on the path to success

Recent Examples on the Web

Marketers can scale their efforts more affordably and offer more subtle outreach as stakeholders research options, work through roadblocks and confer with each other. —Dee Blohm, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026

The kickoff to the World Cup in Boston is less than 25 days away, but there may be a new roadblock. —Brandon Truitt, CBS News, 20 May 2026

Because this is going to cause an escalation when ICE officers are certainly not going to be stopped by some rogue group of people can put roadblocks up. —Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 20 May 2026

Yoshida began working on a feature-length script in 2018 but hit a roadblock in 2021 when the project didn’t meet Canadian government funder Telefilm’s requirement that projects be primarily in English, French or an Indigenous language. —Jennie Punter, Variety, 19 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1913, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Rhymes for roadblock

• alcock
• beanstalk
• bedrock
• boardwalk
• catwalk
• cornstalk
• crosswalk
• deadlock
• feedstock
• fetlock
• flintlock
• goshawk

Kids Definition

roadblock

noun

road·​block -ˌbläk 

: a blocking of a road (as by police officers)

Legal Definition

roadblock

noun

road·​block

: a road barricade set up by law enforcement officers especially for the purpose of detecting criminal activity