| block and tackle |
a rigging of pulley blocks and rope or cables used to provide leverage for hauling or lifting heavy loads. |
| block letter |
a simple, hand-printed capital letter. [2 definitions] |
| building block |
a cinder block or other block used for building. [3 definitions] |
| cell block |
a unit consisting of multiple cells in a prison. |
| chip off the old block |
someone who is very much like one of his or her parents. |
| chock-a-block |
of a ship's hoisting tackle, drawn close together so that the blocks are touching. [2 definitions] |
| chopping block |
a wooden block, section of log, or the like on which firewood is set to be split, or on which the heads and feet of fowls are chopped off. [2 definitions] |
| cinder block |
a partly hollow building block made of concrete and cinders. |
| have one's head on the chopping block |
to take, or be subject to, a great risk, as of being severely criticized or fired. |
| heart block |
a disorder in the coordination of the heartbeat, resulting in the atria and ventricles contracting independently of each other. |
| nerve block |
a local anesthetic that works by temporarily deadening a particular nerve, usu. administered by injection into or next to the nerve. |
| put one's head on the chopping block |
to take, or be subject to, a great risk, as of being severely criticized or fired. |
| saddle block anesthesia |
a method of spinal anesthesia, often used during childbirth, that produces numbness in the perineal area. |
| stumbling block |
an obstacle, hindrance, or difficulty in the way of obtaining progress, belief, or understanding. |
| swage block |
see "swage." |
| wood block |
a block of wood on which a woodcut or wood engraving is made. |