Blocker
nounA person or thing that obstructs, prevents, or gets in the way of something.
How to spell blocker
7 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce blocker
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does blocker mean?
- nounA person or thing that obstructs, prevents, or gets in the way of something.
- nounA player whose role is to obstruct opponents and protect a teammate.
Blocker in a sentence
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The new software acts as a blocker for unwanted pop-up adverts.
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The tall blocker at the net stopped three spikes in a row.
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His doctor prescribed a blocker to lower his blood pressure.
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As lead blocker, she cleared a path for the runner.
Where does blocker come from?
Language of origin: Dutch
This word is built from the noun and verb 'block' plus the agent suffix '-er', which turns a verb into a person or thing that performs the action. 'Block' itself reached English in the late 1300s from the Old French 'bloc', meaning a solid lump or piece of wood, which in turn came from a Middle Dutch and Middle Low German word 'blok' for a log or tree trunk. The original sense was a chunky, immovable mass, and from that physical idea grew the meaning 'to obstruct or get in the way', since a heavy block laid across a path stops movement. By adding '-er', English produced a label for anything that does the blocking, whether a person, a drug, or a piece of software. The same Germanic 'blok' root also lies behind 'blockade' and the city 'block', all sharing the notion of a solid, defining mass.
How the word is built
- block (obstruct)
- -er (agent noun: one that does)
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