blockade 1 of 2

as in siege
the cutting off of an area by military means to stop the flow of people or supplies it was the blockade of all the enemy's major ports that finally won the war

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blockade

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to guard
to disallow entry into (a place) by means of a physical barrier at the entry point the militant protestors blockaded the whole area around city hall

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2
as in to besiege
to surround (as a fortified place) with armed forces for the purpose of capturing or preventing commerce and communication blockaded the city until it surrendered

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of blockade
Noun
Israel has come under mounting pressure by the international community to break its blockade, allow aid into Gaza and end the war. Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN Money, 29 July 2025 Amid growing concern over starving children in Gaza, a Palestinian American attorney from Macomb County is sailing on a small boat with humanitarian supplies to the Palestinian territory with 18 other activists in an attempt to end Israel's blockade. Niraj Warikoo, Freep.com, 27 July 2025
Verb
Lopez monitored every step of the journey, even dealing with a trucking strike that threatened to blockade the route to Cerro Pachón. Rebecca Boyle, Scientific American, 12 June 2025 Parliament and the president's office in Kenya's capital Nairobi were barricaded with razor wire, with all access roads blockaded by police. Arkansas Online, 26 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for blockade
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blockade
Noun
  • Casselberry Coin Club: The program will be a slide show about English civil war siege tokens.
    Joe Rassel, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 July 2025
  • When seeing injustice portrayed on the screen, viewers brought with them the images that have been burned into global consciousness after nearly two years of siege on Gaza—images of children killed, hospitals bombed, and international law flouted with impunity.
    Faisal Kutty, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 July 2025
Verb
  • In her later years, Toklas carefully guarded Stein’s legacy, rebuffing, and sometimes actively thwarting, biographers.
    Anna Russell, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
  • The world’s largest Superman statue guards the town square near the Super Museum with more than 20,000 Superman artifacts.
    Joe Yogerst, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
Verb
  • Today, some 30,000 Druze and Christians are besieged—without water, electricity, food, or medicine.
    Nuri Kino, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 July 2025
  • Khader returned to Jenin briefly in December, smuggled in by friends while the camp was besieged by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in coördination with the Israeli military, as part of a crackdown on armed fighters.
    M. Z. Adnan, New Yorker, 20 July 2025
Verb
  • After the match, Uso helped attack Sikoa’s MFTs and Fatu hit a picturesque moonsault off the top of the cage onto Loa and Mateo, getting some momentum back after a controversial defeat.
    Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Police responded to a call that an individual was being attacked by dogs at the Perris Hill Park in San Bernardino at around 5:00 p.m. local time on Thursday, July 31, KTLA and the Los Angeles Times reported.
    Escher Walcott, People.com, 3 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • The sense of an evolving crisis was most acute around the town of Pokrovsk, unsuccessfully assaulted by Moscow for months at great cost in Russian life.
    Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 31 July 2025
  • Hand also accused a friend of McGregor's, James Lawrence, of assaulting her on the night in question, Jurors found Lawrence did not assault her, according to The Guardian.
    Natasha Dye, People.com, 31 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Blockade.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blockade. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.

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