(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ of flats or offices is a large building containing them.
...~s of council flats.
...a white-painted apartment ~.
N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n
2.
A ~ in a town is an area of land with streets on all its sides.
She walked four ~s down High Street...
He walked around the ~ three times.
N-COUNT
3.
A ~ of a substance is a large rectangular piece of it.
...a ~ of ice.
N-COUNT: usu N of n
4.
To ~ a road, channel, or pipe means to put an object across it or in it so that nothing can pass through it or along it.
Some students today ~ed a highway that cuts through the center of the city...
He can clear ~ed drains.
VERB: V n, V-ed
5.
If something ~s your view, it prevents you from seeing something because it is between you and that thing.
...a row of spruce trees that ~ed his view of the long north slope of the mountain.
= obstruct
VERB: V n
6.
If you ~ someone’s way, you prevent them from going somewhere or entering a place by standing in front of them.
I started to move round him, but he ~ed my way...
VERB: V n
7.
If you ~ something that is being arranged, you prevent it from being done.
For years the country has tried to ~ imports of various cheap foreign products...
VERB: V n
8.
A ~ of something such as tickets or shares is a large quantity of them, especially when they are all sold at the same time and are in a particular sequence or order.
Those booking a ~ of seats get them at reduced rates.
N-COUNT: usu N of n
9.
If you have a mental ~ or a ~, you are temporarily unable to do something that you can normally do which involves using, thinking about, or remembering something.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
10.
see also breeze-~ , building ~ , road~ , starting ~ , stumbling ~ , tower ~
11.
a chip off the old ~: see chip