Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BLOCK, n. [D. blok; Ger. block; Fr. bloc; W. ploc, from lloc, a mound; plociaw, to block, to plug; Russ. placha, a block. The primary sense is, set, fixed, or a mass.]

1. A heavy piece of timber or wood, usually with one plain surface; or it is rectangular, and rather thick than long.
2. Any mass of matter with an extended surface; as, a block of marble, a piece rough from the quarry.
3. A massy body, solid and heavy; a mass of wood, iron, or other metal, with at least one plain surface, such as artificers use.
4. The wood on which criminals are beheaded.
5. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; hindrance; obstacle.
6. A piece of wood in which a pulley runs; used also for the pulley, or the block itself, and the sheaves, or wheels.
7. A blockhead; a stupid fellow.
8. Among cutters in wood, a form made of hard wood, on which they cut figures in relief with knives, chisels, &c. – Encyc.
9. In falconry, the perch whereon a bird of prey is kept. – Encyc.