chock
n.n. a wedge-shaped piece of wood or metal used to stop a wheel from moving. You put it under the wheel to keep a vehicle from rolling.
n. a wedge-shaped block of wood or metal used to prevent a wheel from turning. Often used in nautical or mechanical contexts to secure a vessel or machinery.
He placed a chock under the wheel to stop the boat from moving.
The mechanic used a heavy wooden chock to secure the truck's rear wheels before performing the brake repair.
In traditional shipbuilding, a chock was essential for stabilizing the vessel during the loading of heavy cargo to prevent the keel from shifting.
From Middle English chokke (possibly attested in Middle English chokkefull), from Anglo-Norman choque (compare modern Norman chouque), from an Old Northern French variant of Old French çouche, çouche (“block, log”), of Celtic origin, from Gaulish tsukka (compare Breton soc’h (“thick”), Old Irish tócht (“part, piece”), itself borrowed from Proto-Germanic *stukkaz. Doublet of stock.
French choquer. Compare shock (transitive verb).
Onomatopoeic.