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Stall vs Block - What's the difference?

stall | block | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between stall and block

is that stall is to employ delaying tactics against while block is to stretch or mould (a knitted item, a hat, etc.) into the desired shape.

In obsolete terms the difference between stall and block

is that stall is to be tired of eating, as cattle while block is a blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt.

stall

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) stall, from (etyl) , Old Norse stallr. Cognate with (stand).

Noun

(en noun)
  • (countable) A compartment for a single animal in a stable or cattle shed.
  • A stable; a place for cattle.
  • * Dryden
  • At last he found a stall where oxen stood.
  • A bench or table on which small articles of merchandise are exposed for sale.
  • * John Gay
  • how peddlers' stalls with glittering toys are laid
  • (countable) A small open-fronted shop, for example in a market.
  • * 1900', , Chapter I,
  • He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days...
  • A very small room used for a shower or a toilet.
  • * (rfdate) John Updike, Rabbit at Rest ,
  • Rabbit eases from the king-size bed, goes into their bathroom with its rose-colored one-piece Fiberglas tub and shower stall , and urinates into the toilet of a matching rose porcelain.
  • (countable) A seat in a theatre close to and (about) level with the stage; traditionally, a seat with arms, or otherwise partly enclosed, as distinguished from the benches, sofas, etc.
  • (aeronautics) Loss of lift due to an airfoil's critical angle of attack being exceeded.
  • (paganism, and, Heathenry) An Heathen altar, typically an indoor one, as contrasted with a more substantial outdoor harrow .
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1989 , author=Edred Thorsson , title=A Book of Troth , publisher=Llewellyn Publications , chapter= , volume= , volume_plain= , section= , url= , isbn=9780875427775 , page=156 , passage=In a private rite, a ring is drawn on the ground around a harrow or before an indoor stall .}}
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=2006 , author=Selene Silverwind , title=Everything you need to know about Paganism , publisher=David & Charles , chapter=Asatruar Tools and Practices citation , isbn=9780715324868 , page=117 , passage=Some Asatruar kindreds call their indoor altars stalls and their outdoor altars harrows.}}
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=2006 , author=Mark Puryear , publisher=iUniverse , title=The Nature of Asatru: An Overview of the Ideals and Philosophy of the Indigenous Religion of Northern Europe citation , isbn=9780595389643 , page=237 , passage=Stalli (STAL-i) - Altar .}}
  • A seat in a church, especially one next to the chancel or choir, reserved for church officials and dignitaries.
  • A church office that entitles the incumbent to the use of a church stall.
  • * 1910 [1840], , P. F. Collier edition,
  • When he had been some months installed there as a priest-in-charge, he received a prebendal stall , thanks to the same patrons, in the collegiate church of Sainte-Croix.
  • A sheath to protect the finger.
  • (mining) The space left by excavation between pillars.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To put (an animal etc) in a stall.
  • to stall an ox
  • * Dryden
  • where King Latinus then his oxen stalled
  • To fatten.
  • to stall cattle
  • To come to a standstill.
  • To plunge into mire or snow so as not to be able to get on; to set; to fix.
  • to stall a cart
  • * E. E. Hale
  • His horses had been stalled in the snow.
  • (aeronautics) To exceed the critical angle of attack, resulting in total loss of lift.
  • (obsolete) To live in, or as if in, a stall; to dwell.
  • * Shakespeare
  • We could not stall together / In the whole world.
  • (obsolete) To be stuck, as in mire or snow; to stick fast.
  • (obsolete) To be tired of eating, as cattle.
  • To place in an office with the customary formalities; to install.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • To forestall; to anticipate.
  • * Massinger
  • not to be stall'd by my report
  • To keep close; to keep secret.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Stall this in your bosom.

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An action that is intended to cause or actually causes delay.
  • His encounters with security, reception, the secretary, and the assistant were all stalls until the general manager's attorney arrived.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To employ delaying tactics against
  • He stalled the creditors as long as he could.
  • To employ delaying tactics
  • Soon it became clear that she was stalling to give him time to get away.

    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

    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.