# blocking

Pronunciation: say "BLOK-ing" US /ˈblɑkɪŋ/, UK /ˈblɒkɪŋ/

## Noun

1. The act by which something is blocked or held back; an obstruction.
   - Simple: The act of stopping something from passing or moving through.
   - _The blocking of the artery required emergency surgery._
   - _Protesters' blocking of the intersection brought traffic to a standstill._
3. The precise movement and positioning of actors on stage to support a performance.
   - Simple: The planned movements and positions of actors on a stage during a show.
   - _The blocking for the duel had to be rehearsed many times for safety._
   - _During the first week, the cast worked out the blocking for each act._
4. Supporting blocks placed under a building or structure to hold it up temporarily.
   - Simple: Strong supports placed under a building to hold it up for a short time.
   - _Crews installed blocking beneath the bridge while the supports were replaced._
   - _The mover slid blocking under each corner of the mobile home._
5. A keyboard feature that prevents the registering of multiple simultaneous keypresses that would otherwise cause ghosting.
   - Simple: A keyboard feature that stops extra key presses from registering when several keys are pressed at the same time.
   - _When several keys are pressed together, the keyboard's blocking drops the inputs that would otherwise ghost._
   - _Without proper blocking, holding three keys can produce a phantom fourth signal._
6. A rectangular discontinuity that appears as an artifact when a discrete signal is divided into blocks processed individually.
   - Simple: A blocky, square-shaped flaw that shows up when a picture or sound is broken into parts to be processed.
   - _The codec introduced visible blocking along smooth color gradients in the compressed frame._
   - _Reducing the compression ratio lessened the blocking in the final image._

## Verb

2. Present participle of block. — present participle and gerund of block
   - Simple: Present participle of block. Use this form for an action that is happening now.
   - _The fallen tree is blocking the only road into town._
   - _Heavy clouds were blocking the sun all afternoon._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/blocking (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).