unblocks

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of unblock.

   A single dose unblocks the congested airways within minutes.

   The moderator unblocks accounts once an appeal is approved.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty here: unblocks is also the plural noun, so context decides which you are reading. As a verb it usually takes an object (she unblocks the sink, the app unblocks a contact), but at the whist table it stands alone. A player who unblocks discards a high card so it will not interrupt a partner's long suit, and no object follows.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of unblock.

   Administrators grant unblocks only after the user agrees to follow the rules.

   The support team recorded dozens of account unblocks after the outage.

   Note

   Each unblock is counted as a single act of clearing, which is why the plural turns up in tallies and logs. The noun names the verb's action as a thing and covers much the same ground: pipes, airways, blocked accounts. The whist usage, though, survives only as a verb. To tell it from the verb's present tense, look at its neighbors: a number or article before it marks the noun.

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