unblocked

1. 1
   adjective

   Free from anything that obstructs, so that passage, flow, or movement can happen without hindrance.

   Like a hallway cleared of furniture so people can walk straight through.

   Once the surgeon confirmed the artery was unblocked, blood flowed normally again.

   An unblocked drain lets rainwater run straight into the gutter.

   Similarclear, unobstructed, open, free, unclogged

   Oppositeblocked, obstructed, clogged, occluded

   Note

   Built from un- plus blocked, the adjective describes a state rather than an undoing: something not blocked, whether or not it ever was. That is how the 1918 customs Schedules M and N can pair unblocked with untrimmed for hat bodies such as panamas and leghorns, still unfinished. It takes no degrees, so nothing is more unblocked than something else. For a cleared obstruction, see the participle of unblock.

2. 2
   verb

   Past participle of unblock.

   The drain was finally unblocked by the maintenance crew.

   Engineers confirmed that the channel had been unblocked overnight.

   Note

   Here the -ed is the verb's own ending, so the word reports an undoing: something was blocked and has been cleared, or a contact once blocked can be reached again. It forms perfects with have and passives with be. The whist sense is intransitive, though, so it takes only have. A player has unblocked by discarding a high card, but nothing is unblocked by the player.

   She had unblocked her old friend and sent him a message that evening.

   Sensing her partner's long suit, she unblocked by throwing away the king.

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