# blocking

/ˈbɫɑkɪŋ/ (US) · /blˈɒkɪŋ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/blocking
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. an obstruction

noun · CEFR B2

the act of stopping something from moving or passing through.

For teachers: the act of obstructing or hindering movement or progress. Often used in a physical or metaphorical sense to describe a stoppage.

- The blocking of the main road caused a huge traffic jam this morning.
- The sudden blocking of the drainage pipe led to significant flooding in the basement during the heavy rainstorm.

### 2. theatre/film

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

the plan for where actors should stand and move on a stage.

For teachers: the precise movement and positioning of actors on a stage or film set to facilitate a performance and ensure correct camera angles.

- The director spent the afternoon working on the blocking for the final scene.
- The complex blocking required the lead actress to move precisely between three different light sources without shadowing her co-star.

Usage: Usually uncountable when referring to the general process of staging.

### 3. computing/electronics

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a feature that stops a computer or device from doing two things at once by mistake.

For teachers: a technical constraint or artifact, such as preventing ghosting on a keyboard or visual errors in digital signals processed in blocks.

- This gaming keyboard has special blocking to prevent errors when you press many keys.
- The engineer noted significant blocking artifacts in the compressed video stream, indicating that the bitrate was too low for the resolution.

## Examples

- The software update failed because of a blocking error.
- The application became unresponsive because a blocking operation on the main thread was waiting for a large file to download.
- In high-performance computing, developers often replace blocking calls with asynchronous patterns to ensure that the system remains responsive while waiting for input-output operations to finish.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.