roadblock

noun

road·​block ˈrōd-ˌbläk 

1

a

: a barricade often with traps or mines for holding up an enemy at a point on a road covered by fire

b

: a road barricade set up especially by law enforcement officers

2

: an obstruction in a road

3

: something that blocks progress or prevents accomplishment of an objective

roadblock transitive verb

Examples of roadblock in a Sentence

That's the one roadblock to the plan.

roadblocks on the path to success

Recent Examples on the Web

Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images Technology companies’ push to directly power artificial intelligence with nuclear plants hit a major roadblock, after a federal regulator rejected a request to increase power for an Amazon data center. —Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2024

Diversification is hailed as the gold standard of business strategy, but this conventional wisdom can be a roadblock rather than a road map. —Mark Kane, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024

But roadblocks kept popping up that stalled his visit — and the transfer of the $13 million funds. —Daryl Perry, The Indianapolis Star, 30 Oct. 2024

However, the project has been subjected to numerous roadblocks in recent years, beginning with the COVID pandemic and continuing with the departure of Bassam Tariq, the first director to helm production over the film, in 2022. —Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 22 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1913, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Kids Definition

roadblock

noun

road·​block -ˌbläk 

: a blocking of a road (as by police officers)

Legal Definition

roadblock

noun

road·​block

: a road barricade set up by law enforcement officers especially for the purpose of detecting criminal activity