CHOCK
What does "CHOCK" mean?
A wedge or block placed under a wheel or object to stop it moving.
Meanings
- A block or wedge used to prevent a wheel, barrel, or other object from rolling or sliding. The ground crew slid chocks under the plane's wheels.
- To secure or wedge something in place with a chock. Chock the trailer before you unhitch it.
- As far as possible; completely (as in 'chock-full'). The fridge was chock-full of leftovers. informal
Did you know?
- The British phrase 'chocks away', meaning 'let's get going', comes literally from aviation: it's the call that the wheel chocks have been pulled and the aircraft is free to move.
Word origin
From Old North French 'choque' or Old French 'çoche' (a block, log), of uncertain ultimate origin; 'chock-full' may instead derive from Middle English 'chokkefull', from 'choke', meaning crammed to choking.
Remember it
CHOCK sounds like 'block' with a CH - and that's exactly what it is, a block under a wheel.
A little poem
A fist-sized wedge of
oak holds the whole aircraft still-
then someone says go.
haiku
Wordplay
- The pilot was chock-full of confidence right up until someone forgot to take the chocks away.
What it teaches
The smallest wedge can hold the heaviest thing still; check what's under the wheel before you wonder why you can't move.
Quick facts
What does CHOCK mean?
A wedge or block placed under a wheel or object to stop it moving.
Is CHOCK a valid word?
Yes — CHOCK is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is CHOCK?
CHOCK has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does CHOCK come from?
From Old North French 'choque' or Old French 'çoche' (a block, log), of uncertain ultimate origin; 'chock-full' may instead derive from Middle English 'chokkefull', from 'choke', meaning crammed to choking.
What can CHOCK teach us?
The smallest wedge can hold the heaviest thing still; check what's under the wheel before you wonder why you can't move.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.