To raise a Blockade, is to march from before a place, and leave it free and open as before.
To turn a siege into a Blockade, is to desist from a regular method of besieging, and to surround the place with those troops who had formed the siege.
To form a Blockade, is to surround the place with troops, and hinder any thing from going in or coming out.
A new species of Blockade has been discovered during the French Revolution, a blockade by [proclamation].
BLOCUS, Fr. See [Blockade].
BLOCK battery, in gunnery, a wooden battery for two or more small pieces, mounted on wheels, and moveable from place to place: very ready to fire [en barbet], in the galleries and casemates, &c. where room is wanted.
Block-house, in the military art, a kind of wooden fort or fortification, sometimes mounted on rollers, or on a flat-bottomed vessel, serving either on the lakes or rivers, or in counter-scarps and counter-approaches. This name is sometimes given to a brick or stone building on a bridge, or the brink of a river, serving not only for its defence, but for the command of the river, both above and below.
BLUNDERBUSS, a well known fire-arm, consisting of a wide, short, but very large bore, capable of holding a number of musquet or pistol balls, very fit for doing great execution in a croud, making good a narrow passage, defending the door of a house, stair-case, &c. or repelling an attempt to board a ship.
BOARD of Ordnance. See [Ordnance].
Board, also implies an office under the government, where the affairs of some departments are transacted; of which there are several sorts in England.