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

But the billionaire was met with an unlikely roadblock: a rare species of bees were discovered on the land earmarked for the infrastructure, according to theFinancial Times. —Rashi Shrivastava, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Logan ran into procedural roadblocks but eventually got a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, a master’s in education and doctorate in philosophy at the university. —Scott Huddleston, San Antonio Express-News, 21 Oct. 2024

There may also be technological roadblocks to change, experts said. —Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2024

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

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