blockade

UK/blɒˈkeɪd/US/blɑˈkeɪd/

nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,821 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: blockades

A blockade is cutting off supplies to force a surrender. Impose a blockade, run the blockade, a naval blockade.

In international law it is an act of war, which is why states reach for quarantine or interdiction when they want the effect without the word. It hurts civilians first and soldiers last, and that is one of the standing arguments against it.

Definitions of blockade

1nounblockadeThe cutting off of supplies to force a surrender.B2+
“The navy set up a blockade to stop ships from reaching the port.”

blockade is a military action.

Where it comes from

Block plus -ade, probably after Dutch blokkade or German Blockade. The -ade ending comes from French and names an action.

German
Blockade
Dutch
blocquade
English, today
blockade

From block + ade, probably after Dutch blocquade (now blokkade) or German Blockade.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Military & Defence

Practise this word

blockade in the wild

A blockade is the use of military force to prevent food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, entering or leaving a country or region.
Blockade
Close patrol of hostile ports, in order to prevent naval forces from putting to sea, is also referred to as a blockade.
Blockade
Blockade runners usually transport cargo, for example bringing food or arms to a blockaded city.
Blockade runner
First, all ports in the seceding states were to be rigorously blockaded.
Anaconda Plan
Cuba held nuclear missiles for the Soviet Union during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which resulted in the U.S. fully blockading the island.
United States embargo against Cuba

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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