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Ban vs Block - What's the difference?

ban | block |

As a proper noun ban

is .

As a noun block is

bloc.

ban

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) bannen, from (etyl) . See also (l), (l).

Verb

  • (obsolete) To summon; call out.
  • To anathematise; pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon; place under a ban.
  • To curse; execrate.
  • * (Spenser)
  • * (Sir Walter Scott)
  • To prohibit; interdict; proscribe; forbid or block from participation.
  • * (Byron)
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 14, author=Steven Morris, work=Guardian
    • , title= Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave , passage=Jailing her on Wednesday, magistrate Liz Clyne told Robins: "You have shown little remorse either for the death of the kitten or the trauma to your former friend Sarah Knutton." She was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= A new prescription , passage=No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.}}
  • To curse; utter curses or maledictions.
    • Synonyms
    * forbid * prohibit * disallow

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • prohibition
  • * Milton
    • under ban to touch
  • A public proclamation or edict; a summons by public proclamation. Chiefly, in early use, a summons to arms.
    • Bans is common and ordinary amongst the Feudists, and signifies a proclamation, or any public notice.
  • The gathering of the (French) king's vassals for war; the whole body of vassals so assembled, or liable to be summoned; originally, the same as arrière-ban: in the 16th c., French usage created a distinction between ban and arrière-ban, for which see the latter word.
    • He has sent abroad to assemble his ban and arriere ban.
    The Ban and the Arrierban are met armed in the field to choose a king.
    ''France was at such a Pinch..that they call'd their Ban and Arriere Ban, the assembling whereof had been long discussed, and in a manner antiquated.
    The ban was sometimes convoked, that is, the possessors of the fiefs were called upon for military services.''
    The act of calling together the vassals in armed array, was entitled ‘convoking the ban.
  • (obsolete) A curse or anathema.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Hecate's ban
  • A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban, such as a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes.
    • Related terms
    * black ban * total fire ban

    See also

    * banns

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (bani)
  • A subdivision of currency, equal to a 1/100th of a Romanian (l)
  • A subdivision of currency, equal to a 1/100th of a Moldavian

    • Etymology 3

    From (Banburismus); coined by .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A unit measuring information or entropy based on base-ten logarithms, rather than the base-two logarithms that define the bit.
    • Derived terms
    * deciban
    Synonyms
    * dit, hartley
    See also
    * bit, nat, qubit

    Etymology 4

    From (etyl) (term) (compare Serbo-Croatian .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.

    • Anagrams

    * * * English terms with multiple etymologies English transitive verbs ----

    block

    English

    (wikipedia block)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece of any substance.
  • *
    • You young porkers who are sitting in front of me, every one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year.
    A block of ice.
    A block of stone.
    Anne Boleyn placed her head on the block and awaited her execution.
  • A group of urban lots of property, several acres in extent, not crossed by public streets.
    • I'm going for a walk around the block .
  • A residential building consisting of flats.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
    • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=He turned back to the scene before him and the enormous new block' of council dwellings. The design was some way after Corbusier but the ' block was built up on plinths and resembled an Atlantic liner swimming diagonally across the site.}}
    A block of flats.
  • The distance from one street to another in a city that is built (approximately) to a grid pattern.
    • The place you are looking for is two long blocks''' east and one short '''block north.
  • (slang) The human head.
    • I'll knock your block off.
  • A wig block: a simplified head model upon which wigs are worn.
  • * 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby Dick) ,
    • Next morning, Monday, after disposing of the embalmed head to a barber, for a block , I settled my own and comrade’s bill; using, however, my comrade’s money.
  • A mould on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped.
  • * Shakespeare
    • He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block .
  • A set of sheets (of paper) joined together at one end.
    • A block of 100 tickets.
  • (computing) A logical data storage unit containing one or more physical sectors (see cluster).
  • (computing) A region of code in a program that acts as a single unit, such as a function or loop.
  • (cryptography) A fixed-length group of bits making up part of a message.
  • (rigging) A case with one or more sheaves/pulleys, used with ropes to increase or redirect force, for example, as part of the rigging of a sailing ship.
  • (chemistry) A portion of a macromolecule, comprising many units, that has at least one feature not present in adjacent portions.
  • Something that prevents something from passing (see blockage).
    • There's a block in the pipe that means the water can't get through.
  • (sports) An action to interfere with the movement of an opposing player or of the object of play (ball, puck).
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
    • , date=February 12 , author=Oliver Brett , title=Sunderland 1–2 Tottenham , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The match proved an unedifying spectacle until Spurs won a corner following their first move of real quality, John Mensah making an important block with Jermain Defoe poised to strike. }}
  • (cricket) A shot played by holding the bat vertically in the path of the ball, so that it loses momentum and drops to the ground.
  • (volleyball) A defensive play by one or more players meant to deflect a spiked ball back to the hitter’s court.
  • (philately) A joined group of four (or in some cases nine) postage stamps, forming a roughly square shape.
  • A section of split logs used as fuel.
  • (UK) Solitary confinement.
  • A cellblock.
  • (falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept.
  • (printing, dated) A piece of hard wood on which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted.
  • (obsolete) A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt.
  • * Shakespeare
    • What a block art thou!
  • A section of a railroad where the block system is used.

    • Synonyms

    * See also * city block

    Related terms

    *

    Derived terms

    ; cuboid * * * * ; group of buildings * * * * * ; computing * ; distance * ; cutting base * * ; prevent passage * * * * * * ; rigging * * ; human head * * * ; volleyball * * * ; miscellaneous * * * * *

    Synonyms

    * (volleyball) stuff, roof, wall

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fill (something) so that it is not possible to pass.
    • The pipe is blocked .
  • To prevent (something or someone) from passing.
    • You're blocking the road – I can't get through.
  • To prevent (something from happening or someone from doing something).
    • His plan to take over the business was blocked by the boss.
  • (sports) To impede an opponent.
    • He blocked the basketball player's shot.
    The offensive linemen tried to block the blitz.
  • (theater) To specify the positions and movements of the actors.
    • It was very difficult to block this scene convincingly.
  • (cricket) To hit with a block.
  • (cricket) To play a block shot.
  • To disable communication via telephone, instant messaging, etc., with an undesirable someone.
    • I tried to send you a message, but you've blocked me!
  • (computing) To wait.
    • When the condition expression is false, the thread blocks on the condition variable.
  • To stretch or mould (a knitted item, a hat, etc.) into the desired shape.
    • I blocked the mittens by wetting them and pinning them to a shaped piece of cardboard.

    Related terms

    * * * * * * *