Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A block or wedge placed under something else, such as a wheel, to keep it from moving.
- noun Nautical A heavy fitting of metal or wood with two jaws curving inward, through which a rope or cable may be run.
- transitive verb To fit with or secure by a chock.
- transitive verb Nautical To place (a boat) on chocks.
- adverb As close as possible.
from The Century Dictionary.
- A variant of
choke . - Entirely; fully; as far as possible: used in the nautical phrases chock aft, chock home, etc.
- An obsolete variant of
shock . - To throw with a quick motion; toss; pitch: same as
chuck , 2. - To check the motion of, as by a chock.
- noun A block or piece of wood or other material, more or less wedge-shaped when specially prepared, used to prevent movement, as by insertion behind the props of a ship's cradle, under the sides of a boat on deck, under the wheels of a carriage, etc.—
- noun In ship-building, a block of approximately triangular shape, used to unite the head and heel of consecutive timbers.—
- noun Nautical, a block having hornshaped projections extending partly over a recess in the middle, in which a cable or hawser is placed while being hauled in or on: called distinctively a warping-chock.—
- noun In coal-mining, a pillar built of short square blocks of wood from 2½ to 6 feet long, laid crosswise, two and two, so as to form a strong support for the roof: used especially in long-wall working.
- Nautical, to secure by putting a chock into or under: as, to
chock the timbers of a ship; to chock a cask. - To fill up a cavity like a chock.
- noun A block of wood, especially one for burning. See
chuck , 1. - noun A thick unsawed block of wood. See
chock and log . - noun plural Blocks of wood or stone placed on a harrow, roller, or other machine to give it weight or steadiness.
- noun In turnery, same as
chuck , 5. - noun A rut-like hole in a road.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To fill up, as a cavity.
- transitive verb To stop or fasten, as with a wedge, or block; to scotch.
- adverb (Naut.) Entirely; quite.
- noun A wedge, or block made to fit in any space which it is desired to fill, esp. something to steady a cask or other body, or prevent it from moving, by fitting into the space around or beneath it.
- noun (Naut.) A heavy casting of metal, usually fixed near the gunwale. It has two short horn-shaped arms curving inward, between which ropes or hawsers may pass for towing, mooring, etc.
- transitive verb obsolete To encounter.
- noun obsolete An encounter.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete An
encounter . - noun Any wooden block used as a wedge or filler
- noun nautical Any fitting or fixture used to restrict movement, especially movement of a
line ; traditionally was a fixture near abulwark with two horns pointing towards each other, with a gap between where the line can be inserted. - noun Blocks made of either
wood ,plastic ormetal , used to keep a parkedaircraft in position. - verb To stop or fasten, as with a wedge, or block; to scotch.
- verb nautical To insert a
line in a chock.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb support on chocks
- adverb as completely as possible
- noun a block of wood used to prevent the sliding or rolling of a heavy object
- verb secure with chocks
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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He was in chock and dirty, I rushed him to an emergency vet certain he was dying.
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(Though, to be fair, those shows are just plain chock full of intentionally shocking stuff.)
ShePop: 'CSI' and 'Family Guy' find common ground: Violence against women | EW.com 2009
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Grace said ... my favorite kind of muffin -- chock-full of fiber and other healthy stuff, and delicious at the same time. very nice (and great melted butter shots!).
BBD#13: Orange Cranberry Bran Muffins Laura 2008
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A-Data's XPG Plus Series DDR3-2200+ DRAM, aside from having a name chock full of acronyms, is the world's fastest of its kind, with a 2,200MHz clock speed (the previous record was 2,133MHz).
Gizmodo 2009
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Zack Addy has been the "little brother" of the show, the one who changed as a person the most, who grew up, nurtured friendships, earned his place in his career and spouted off technical jargon chock full of four-dollar words with the greatest of ease while figures of speech went completely over his head.
Jamie Frevele: In Defense of Hart Hanson and Why We Lose the Best TV Characters 2008
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Fancy, Auntie — I had the whole of that portmanteau chock full of copies of the documents.
Hedda Gabler 2006
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Fancy, Auntie — I had the whole of that portmanteau chock full of copies of the documents.
Hedda Gabler 2006
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I’m going to guess that some imbecile with a username chock full of lies and stupidity is going to make vague ranting threats at me on the Interwebs.
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7 Minutes in Heaven's raison d'être could only be described as chock-full of "sexual connotations or innuendo," not to mention nudity.
The Register Team Register 2010
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They were laid at the sides, and I was instructed to "chock" myself with them.
Northern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich Islands Charles Nordhoff 1865
slumry commented on the word chock
Good word...I wonder if I should just admire it a while before I steal it...chock full...how about chock-a-block.
July 12, 2007
reesetee commented on the word chock
Take it--community property here. :-)
July 12, 2007
slumry commented on the word chock
Okay--thanks. I owe you a bunch.
July 12, 2007
reesetee commented on the word chock
Nah. Just put in a good word for me now & then. ;->
July 12, 2007
slumry commented on the word chock
Ha, ha, ha. You are quick.
July 12, 2007
reesetee commented on the word chock
Only after my morning hit of caffeine.
July 12, 2007
slumry commented on the word chock
Okay, more coffee! It is still morning here.
July 12, 2007
reesetee commented on the word chock
Not here--it's (late) lunchtime. :-)
July 12, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word chock
"'You must always come up through the hole for the first seven times,' he said. 'To be sure, it looks lubberly, but seven times is the law. You will very soon get used to laying aloft, and after those holy seven times you will use the futtock-shrouds without thinking about it. Now let me show you the things in the top...' This he did from the top-maul to the fid, fid-plate, bolster, and chock."
--Patrick O'Brian, Blue at the Mizzen, 92
March 27, 2008
yarb commented on the word chock
With great difficulty we got all the hides aboard and stowed under hatches, the yard and stay tackles hooked on, and the launch and pinnace hoisted, chocked, and griped.
- Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, ch. 24
By "griped", does he mean gripped?
September 9, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word chock
Yarb: I don't think so. I looked for gripe in A Sea of Words and found this: "A vessel is said to gripe when she tends to come up into the wind when sailing close-hauled. Also, the lashing used to secure a boat in its place on the deck of a ship. The piece of timber terminating the keel at the forward extremity, also called the 'forefoot.'" (221)
I think these are three definitions disguised as one, but it seems like the second of these might fit your quotation.
October 15, 2008