Blocking

blocking [′bläk·iŋ]

(agriculture)

The practice of grouping together all experimental units (such as plots of ground or animals) that make up a replication in an agricultural experiment.

(chemistry)

Undesired adhesion of granular particles; often occurs with damp powders or plastic pellets in storage bins or during movement through conduits.

(computer science)

Combining two or more computer records into one block.

(electronics)

Applying a high negative bias to the grid of an electron tube to reduce its anode current to zero.

Overloading a receiver by an unwanted signal so that the automatic gain control reduces the response to a desired signal.

Distortion occurring in a resistance-capacitance-coupled electron tube amplifier stage when grid current flows in the following tube.

(engineering)

Undesired adhesion between layers of plastic materials in contact during storage or use.

(histology)

The process of embedding tissue in a solid medium, such as paraffin.

A histochemical process in which a portion of a molecule is treated to prevent it from reacting with some other agent.

(metallurgy)

A preliminary hot-forging operation which imparts an approximate shape to the rough stock.

Reducing the oxygen content of the bath in an open-hearth furnace.

(meteorology)

Large-scale obstruction of the normalwest-to-east progress of migratory cyclones and anticyclones.

(mining engineering)

blinding

(psychology)

A sudden obstruction or interruption in spontaneous flow of thinking or speaking, perceived as an absence or deprivation of thought.

(solid-state physics)

The hindering of motion of dislocations in a solid substance by small particles of a second substance included in the solid; results in hardening of the substance.

(statistics)

The grouping of sample data into subgroups with similar characteristics.

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blocking

1. Pieces of wood used to secure, join, or reinforce members, or to fill spaces between them.

2. A method of bonding two adjoining or intersecting walls, not built at the same time, by means of offsets whose vertical dimensions are not less than 8 in. (20 cm).

3. The sticking together of two painted surfaces when pressed together.

4. An undesired adhesion between touching layers of a material, as occurs under moderate pressure during storage or use.

5. Small blocks of wood used for shimming.

6. Wood which is built into a roofing system above the deck but below the membrane and flashing; used to stiffen the deck around the opening, to serve as a stop for thermal insulation, and to serve as a nailer for attachment of the membrane or flashing.

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Blocking 

(military). (1) The aggregate of combat activity of various types of armed forces on land, sea, or air for the realization of a blockade.

(2) In military tactics, the isolation (the encirclement) of a strong point (objective) or of a grouping of enemy troops that continue to offer resistance. Blocking is usually conducted by a unit of first echelon forces of advancing troops. For the destruction of the blocked opponent second echelon forces and reserves can also be committed.

(3) Prevention of enemy aviation from taking off from the enemy’s own airfields for a certain period of time by using military means; the aim of such blocking is to support the combat activity of friendly ground, air, and naval forces.

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Blocking 

or bunching, an agrotechnical method consisting of the mechanized thinning of wide-row plantings and leaving in the row “bunches” of several plants at a uniform distance from one another. The method is used for cultivating furrow-plowed crops such as sugar beets and maize. Blocking is usually done with a harrow across the rows; after a day or two the bunches are made sparse and the required number of plants is left in them. Blocking decreases the amount of labor lost in thinning plants. In square-nest sowing, blocking is not necessary.