unblock

From un- +‎ block.

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈblɒk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒk

unblock (third-person singular simple present unblocks, present participle unblocking, simple past and past participle unblocked)

1. (transitive) To remove or clear a block or obstruction from.

   Synonym: deobstruct

   We need a plumber to unblock the sink.

   • 2021 March 10, “Network News: Flooding closes Highland and West Coast main lines in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 926, page 17:

     During this period, Network Rail was able to unblock a culvert and stabilise a high-risk landslip at Beattock, and to stabilise a high-risk landslip site at Ravenstruther (near Carstairs).

2. (transitive) To free or make available.
   • 2010, Syed Ali, Dubai: gilded cage, page 58:

     It is not just bad news about Dubai that gets blocked from the Internet; […] a whole range of other social networking sites have been blocked, unblocked and reblocked.

3. (intransitive, card games) In whist, to throw away a high card so as not to interrupt one's partner's long suit.
4. (transitive) To enable communication again, via telephone, instant messaging, etc., with (somebody previously blocked).

unblock (plural unblocks)

1. The removal of a block or blockage.
   • 1997, Danny Roth, Focus on Declarer Play, page 68:

     Look for every opportunity to create an entry to the weak hand. Spectacular unblocks are often needed.

   • 2017, Natalie Enright Jerger, Tushar Krishna, Li-Shiuan Peh, On-Chip Networks: Second Edition, page 110:

     Control messages, such as requests/forwards/unblocks, are often shorter as they need to carry the address and some header information, while data messages, such as responses, are cache-line sized with some extra header information.