n. [ Gr. 'ake`falos without a head + ky`stis bladder. ] (Zool.) A larval entozoön in the form of a subglobular or oval vesicle, or hydatid, filled with fluid, sometimes found in the tissues of man and the lower animals; -- so called from the absence of a head or visible organs on the vesicle. These cysts are the immature stages of certain tapeworms. Also applied to similar cysts of different origin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or resembling, the acephalocysts. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; invisible + &unr_; a bell. ] (Zool.) Applied to sexual zooids of hydroids, that have a saclike form and do not become free; -- opposed to phanerocodonic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Allocution. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ Gr. a`ga`llochon, of Eastern origin: cf. Skr. aguru, Heb. pl. ahālīm. ] A soft, resinous wood (Aquilaria Agallocha) of highly aromatic smell, burnt by the orientals as a perfume. It is called also agalwood and aloes wood. The name is also given to some other species. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. capable of being allocated.
Syn. -- allocable, apportionable. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ LL. allocatus, p. p. of allocare, fr. L. ad + locare to place. See Allow. ] 1. To distribute or assign; to allot. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To localize. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. allocatio: cf. F. allocation. ] 1. The act of putting one thing to another; a placing; disposition; arrangement. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An allotment or apportionment; as, an allocation of shares in a company. [ 1913 Webster ]

The allocation of the particular portions of Palestine to its successive inhabitants. A. R. Stanley. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The admission of an item in an account, or an allowance made upon an account; -- a term used in the English exchequer. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ LL., it is allowed, fr. allocare to allow. ] (Law) “Allowed.” The word allocatur expresses the allowance of a proceeding, writ, order, etc., by a court, judge, or judicial officer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Changeable in color. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Min.) See Garnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; changed in color, fr. &unr_; other + &unr_; color. ] Changing color. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. allocuto, fr. alloqui to speak to; ad + loqui to speak: cf. F. allocution. ] 1. The act or manner of speaking to, or of addressing in words. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An address; a hortatory or authoritative address as of a pope to his clergy. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 any plant of the genus Alocasia having large showy basal leaves and boat-shaped spathe and reddish berries.
Syn. -- elephant's ear, elephant ear [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. Archilochius. ] Of or pertaining to the satiric Greek poet Archilochus; as, Archilochian meter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a family comprising the birthworts; wild ginger.
Syn. -- family Aristolochiaceae, birthwort family [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 an order of plants distinguished by tubular petaloid perianth and inferior ovary. It includes the Aristolochiaceae, Rafflesiaceae, and Hydnoraceae.
Syn. -- order Aristolochiales. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. 1 proceeding without interruption for twenty four hours every day. around-the-clock nursing care
Syn. -- day-and-night, nonstop, round-the-clock, twenty four hours a day. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Perh. for Balderlocks, fr. Balder the Scandinavian deity. ] (Bot.) A large black seaweed (Alaria esculenta) sometimes eaten in Europe; -- also called murlins, honeyware, and henware. [ 1913 Webster ]

. An oblong, often nearly cubical, block of some tough stone, esp. granite, used as a material for street pavements. Its usual diameter is 5 to 7 inches. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Belocked ] [ Pref. be- + lock: cf. AS. belūcan. ] To lock, or fasten as with a lock. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. bi- + location. ] Double location; the state or power of being in two places at the same instant; -- a miraculous power attributed to some of the saints. Tylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + locular: cf. F. biloculaire. ] Divided into two cells or compartments; as, a bilocular pericarp. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. (Biol.) divided into or containing two cells or chambers; as, having a biloculate capsule.
Syn. -- bilocular. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ F. ] (Arch.) The roughest and cheapest sort of rubblework, in masonry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. blok; cf. F. bloc (fr. OHG.), D. & Dan. blok, Sw. & G. block, OHG. bloch. There is also an OHG. bloch, biloh; bi by + the same root as that of E. lock. Cf. Block, v. t., Blockade, and see Lock. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A piece of wood more or less bulky; a solid mass of wood, stone, etc., usually with one or more plane, or approximately plane, faces; as, a block on which a butcher chops his meat; a block by which to mount a horse; children's playing blocks, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke,
And Christmas blocks are burning. Wither. [ 1913 Webster ]

All her labor was but as a block
Left in the quarry. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The solid piece of wood on which condemned persons lay their necks when they are beheaded. [ 1913 Webster ]

Noble heads which have been brought to the block. E. Everett. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped. Hence: The pattern or shape of a hat. [ 1913 Webster ]

He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A large or long building divided into separate houses or shops, or a number of houses or shops built in contact with each other so as to form one building; a row of houses or shops. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets, whether occupied by buildings or not. [ 1913 Webster ]

The new city was laid out in rectangular blocks, each block containing thirty building lots. Such an average block, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street. Lond. Quart. Rev. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A grooved pulley or sheave incased in a frame or shell which is provided with a hook, eye, or strap, by which it may be attached to an object. It is used to change the direction of motion, as in raising a heavy object that can not be conveniently reached, and also, when two or more such sheaves are compounded, to change the rate of motion, or to exert increased force; -- used especially in the rigging of ships, and in tackles. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a hindrance; an obstacle; -- also called blockage; as, a block in the way; a block in an artery; a block in a nerve; a block in a biochemical pathway. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Print.) A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to make it type high. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

What a block art thou ! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See Block system, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. In Australia, one of the large lots into which public land, when opened to settlers, is divided by the government surveyors. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

14. (Cricket) (a) The position of a player or bat when guarding the wicket. (b) A block hole. (c) The popping crease. [ R. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

15. a number of individual items sold as a unit; as, a block of airline ticketes; a block of hotel rooms; a block of stock. [ PJC ]

16. the length of one side of a city block{ 5 }, traversed along any side; as, to walk three blocks ahead and turn left at the corner. [ PJC ]

17. a halt in a mental process, especially one due to stress, memory lapse, confusion, etc.; as, a writer's block; to have a block in remembering a name. [ PJC ]

18. (computers) a quantity of binary-encoded information transferred, or stored, as a unit to, from, or on a data storage device; as, to divide a disk into 512-byte blocks. [ PJC ]

19. (computers) a number of locations in a random-access memory allocated to storage of specific data; as, to allocate a block of 1024 bytes for the stack. [ PJC ]

A block of shares (Stock Exchange), a large number of shares in a stock company, sold in a lump. Bartlett. --
Block printing. (a) A mode of printing (common in China and Japan) from engraved boards by means of a sheet of paper laid on the linked surface and rubbed with a brush. S. W. Williams. (b) A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved surface coated with coloring matter. --
Block system on railways, a system by which the track is divided into sections of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric signals that no train enters a section or block before the preceding train has left it. --
Back blocks, Australian pastoral country which is remote from the seacoast or from a river. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blocked p. pr. & vb. n. Blocking. ] [ Cf. F. bloquer, fr. bloc block. See Block, n. ] 1. To obstruct so as to prevent passage or progress; to prevent passage from, through, or into, by obstructing the way; -- used both of persons and things; -- often followed by up; as, to block up a road or harbor; to block an entrance. [ 1913 Webster ]

With moles . . . would block the port. Rowe. [ 1913 Webster ]

A city . . . besieged and blocked about. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To secure or support by means of blocks; to secure, as two boards at their angles of intersection, by pieces of wood glued to each. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To shape on, or stamp with, a block; as, to block a hat. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. to cause (any activity) to halt by creating an obstruction; as, to block a nerve impulse; to block a biochemical reaction with a drug. [ PJC ]

To block out, to begin to reduce to shape; to mark out roughly; to lay out; to outline; as, to block out a plan. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. It. bloccata. See Block, v. t. ] 1. The shutting up of a place by troops or ships, with the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the reception of supplies; as, the blockade of the ports of an enemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Blockade is now usually applied to an investment with ships or vessels, while siege is used of an investment by land forces. To constitute a blockade, the investing power must be able to apply its force to every point of practicable access, so as to render it dangerous to attempt to enter; and there is no blockade of that port where its force can not be brought to bear. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An obstruction to passage. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (physiology) interference with transmission of a physiological signal, or a physiological reaction. [ PJC ]

To raise a blockade. See under Raise. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blockaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blockading. ] 1. To shut up, as a town or fortress, by investing it with troops or vessels or war for the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the introduction of supplies. See note under Blockade, n. “Blockaded the place by sea.” Gilpin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to shut in so as to prevent egress. [ 1913 Webster ]

Till storm and driving ice blockade him there. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To obstruct entrance to or egress from. [ 1913 Webster ]

Huge bales of British cloth blockade the door. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having access obstructed by emplacement of a barrier, or by threat of force.
Syn. -- barricaded, barred. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. One who blockades. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) A vessel employed in blockading. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of blocking up; the state of being blocked up. [ 1913 Webster ]

A book printed from engraved wooden blocks instead of movable types. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mach.) A chain in which the alternate links are broad blocks connected by thin side links pivoted to the ends of the blocks, used with sprocket wheels to transmit power, as in a bicycle. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adj. 1. closed to traffic. Traffic was blocked by an overturned tractor-trailor
Syn. -- out of use(predicate). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. at a complete standstill because of opposition of two unrelenting forces or factions.
Syn. -- deadlocked, stalemated. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. unusable because of some obstruction. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Block + head. ] A stupid fellow; a dolt; a person deficient in understanding. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read,
With loads of learned lumber in his head. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Stupid; dull. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That which characterizes a blockhead; stupidity. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Block + house: cf. G. blockhaus. ] 1. (Mil.) An edifice or structure of heavy timbers or logs for military defense, having its sides loopholed for musketry, and often an upper story projecting over the lower, or so placed upon it as to have its sides make an angle wit the sides of the lower story, thus enabling the defenders to fire downward, and in all directions; -- formerly much used in America and Germany. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A house of squared logs. [ West. & South. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of obstructing, supporting, shaping, or stamping with a block or blocks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Blocks used to support (a building, etc.) temporarily. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Arch.) The finishing course of a wall showing above a cornice. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like a block; deficient in understanding; stupid; dull. “Blockish Ajax.” Shak. -- Block"ish*ly, adv. -- Block"ish*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like a block; stupid. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Railroads) One of the danger signals or safety signals which guide the movement of trains in a block system. The signal is often so coupled with a switch that act of opening or closing the switch operates the signal also. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Railroads) A system by which the track is divided into short sections, as of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric, or combined electric and pneumatic, signals that no train enters a section or block until the preceding train has left it, as in
absolute blocking, or that a train may be allowed to follow another into a block as long as it proceeds with excessive caution, as in
permissive blocking. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

See under Tin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. one of the two male reproductive glands; a testis; -- usually spelled ballock, and usually used in the plural.
Syn. -- gonad, testicle, ball, nut, egg. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. a pulley-block at the head of a topmast.
Syn. -- bullock block. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. to make a mess of.
Syn. -- botch, fumble, botch up, muff, blow it, flub, screw up, ball up, blunder, spoil, muck up, bungle, fluff, bollix, bollix up, bollocks up, bobble, mishandle, louse up, foul up, mess up, fuck up. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The movable piece which closes the breech of a breech-loading firearm, and resists the backward force of the discharge. It is withdrawn for the insertion of a cartridge, and closed again before the gun is fired. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To bully. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

She shan't think to bullock and domineer over me. Foote. [ 1913 Webster ]